"Doctor," Donna said one morning over breakfast, "I've been doing some research, trying to think of someplace to go. Have you ever been to Midnight?"
The Doctor leaned back against the counter with his tea in hand. "The planet made entirely of diamonds? I've thought about it, but never managed to get there. Something always seems to happen when I try."
"Planet made of diamonds—sounds like a girl's best friend."
He grinned. "Is that an official request then?"
"Yeah. Let's check it out."
"Finish your breakfast and meet me in the console room when you're ready."
Half an hour later, the Doctor followed Donna out of the TARDIS into the only facility on Midnight. The planet's Xtonic sun was deadly to humans, but that hadn't stopped them from turning the place into an exotic resort.
"Come on, Donna," he said, directing her to the main reservations desk.
A woman smiled up at them. "How can I help you today?"
"We need two tickets on the next trip to see the waterfall," he said.
"That's one ticket," Donna corrected, "and one room in the resort."
The Doctor looked over at his best friend in shock. "Did you trick me into taking you to a spa?"
She raised an eyebrow. "Listen, Spaceman, you might be able to run and run and run without any breaks, but some of us need to stop to catch our breath now and then."
"Rose and Martha never complained," he said weakly, though he knew he probably wouldn't have listened to Martha, and he'd willingly taken Rose to more holiday spots than he'd taken anyone else, hoping to impress her.
"Well then it's about time someone did," Donna said tartly.
"Excuse me," the clerk said. "Will that be one room and one ticket?"
The Doctor looked at his friend, then handed the credit stick over with a sigh of resignation. Once she'd run the payment through, she handed Donna a keycard and the Doctor a plastic card that was his ticket.
She withdrew two brochures from the display on the desk. "The tour leaves from this terminal in twenty minutes," she told the Doctor, circling the location on the map. "You'll want to be there five minutes before boarding begins."
Turning to Donna, she opened the second brochure and marked an X on one of the rooms. "You'll be on the second floor, room 214. As a guest, you have access to all our amenities: the exercise room, massage therapists, sauna, mud baths, swimming pools, and hot tubs. I hope you enjoy your stay on Midnight."
"Thanks," Donna said warmly, taking the brochure. "That sounds lovely."
The Doctor took Donna by the elbow and led her away from the desk. "I can't believe you tricked me."
"Oh, come off it." She rolled her eyes. "You get to see your sapphire waterfall, don't you?"
"Well yeah, but—"
"And isn't that why you wanted to come to Midnight in the first place?"
The Doctor rubbed at the back of his neck. "It was."
She looked at him shrewdly. "Don't worry; you'll have a whole bus full of strangers to impress with your brilliance."
He snorted. "Like you're ever impressed with my brilliance. Fine, you stay here in your boring spa—honestly, you could do this on Earth—and I'll go on my tour."
"I'll see you in nine hours," she told him.
oOoOoOoOo
The Doctor spotted a public phone near the embarkation area and quickly dialled the number for the front desk.
"Midnight Leisure Palace, the only resort on the planet of diamonds: front desk speaking. How may I direct your call?"
"Hi, listen. I'm a guest going on the next tour, and I wondered if I could talk to my friend quickly before we leave."
"Of course, sir. What's their room number?"
"She's by the pool, actually. Red hair. Her name's Donna Noble."
"Please hold, sir."
The bus arrived, and the Doctor started bouncing on his toes. Come on, come on, come on.
The phone clicked, but before the Doctor could say anything, Donna cut him off. "I said, no."
"Sapphire waterfall. It's a waterfall made of sapphires," he told her again, repeating all the information from the brochure. "This enormous jewel, the size of a glacier reaches the Cliffs of Oblivion, and then shatters into sapphires at the edge. They fall a hundred thousand feet into a crystal ravine."
"I bet you say that to all the girls."
Not for the first time, the Doctor wished Donna were easier to impress. "Oh, come on." Passengers walked by him through the concourse to the boarding area. "They're boarding now. It's no fun if I see it on my own. Four hours, that's all it takes."
"No, that's four hours there and four hours back," she corrected. "That's like a school trip. I'd rather go sunbathing."
"You be careful, that's Xtonic sunlight."
"Oh, I'm safe," she said breezily. "It says in the brochure this glass is fifteen feet thick."
The last call for boarding sounded over the loudspeaker. "All right, I give up. I'll be back for dinner. We'll try that anti-gravity restaurant. With bibs."
"That's a date. Well, not a date," she amended. "Oh, you know what I mean. Oh, get off."
"See you later," he promised her warmly.
"Oi," she said before he could hang up the phone. "And you be careful, all right?"
"Nah," he drawled. "Taking a big space truck with a bunch of strangers across a diamond planet called Midnight? What could possibly go wrong?"
The Doctor hung up the phone and boarded the bus, eagerly looking forward to the trip.
oOoOoOoOo
Rose noticed the tension as soon as she stepped into the lab. "What is it?"
"Er, nothing Agent Tyler," Malcolm said nervously.
"Malcolm, you are the worst liar I have ever known. And you two—" She glared at Mickey and Jake. "You know I get automatic reports of any possible cracks, yeah?"
Mickey sighed. "Sorry, Babe. This one looks dangerous though."
Rose held out her hand, and Malcolm handed her the report. The words at the top of the page arrested her attention. "The TARDIS is there?"
"Yes, Agent Tyler!"
"And the planet is completely irradiated by Xtonic sunlight," Jake said.
"Then you'd better make sure I land right next to the TARDIS, hadn't you?" she said blithely and handed the report back.
"We'd feel safer if we transmitted a signal, instead of sending you through."
Rose put her hands on her hips. "You want to transmit my image… what, to a television screen the Doctor happens to be close to? After all I've gone through, all we've gone through, do you think I'm going to do another 'just an image, no touch,' and then disappear? Again?"
Mickey stepped forward. "Rose, you need to be reasonable."
"Funny, I kinda thought I was," Rose countered. "This is the first time we've seen a crack by the TARDIS in two months, since…"
"Since you visited an earlier version of the Doctor."
Her ears turned warm at the memory. "This might be my last chance of going home. And you know it isn't even about that anymore. More stars are going out every night; if I don't find the Doctor soon, it'll be too late."
Mickey sighed, and Rose knew she'd won. "Excellent. I'll gear up and be ready to leave in twenty minutes."
Twenty minutes later, she held the yellow button in her hand. "This is it, Micks," she said quietly. "I just know it is."
"I hope you're right, Babe."
Rose smiled at him and hit the button. The trip through the Void felt like it always did: like she was being put through a blender. She'd developed an immunity to the nastier side effects, but it wasn't a form of transportation she'd recommend.
A familiar, beloved blue filled her vision when she landed. The TARDIS hummed in her head, and Rose pulled her key out from under her shirt with shaking hands. The Doctor was close, she could tell, but he wasn't within running distance.
When she pushed open the doors and saw the familiar coral, she breathed a sigh of relief. This was her TARDIS, and her Doctor.
Remembering what had happened last time, Rose turned on her comms. "Control, this is Agent Tyler. I've found the right Doctor. Deactivate auto-recall."
"Copy that Agent Tyler," Mickey said. "Keep us informed of any developments. Agents are standing by to assist as needed."
"I'll relay that information to the Doctor. Tyler out."
Rose set her gun down just inside the door and looked around the console room, wondering what to do. The TARDIS seemed to be pushing her out the door, so she took her coat off and hung it up, then left, laughing.
oOoOoOoOo
Rose had just begun to investigate her surroundings when the Doctor registered her presence. She immediately got the sense that wherever he was, he wouldn't be able to get back to the TARDIS for a while. Anxiety bordering on panic telegraphed over the bond, and she quickly reassured him that she wouldn't be going anywhere.
He calmed down, and Rose turned her attention back to her surroundings—some kind of resort, it seemed. She spied a poster on the wall, advertising tours to the sapphire waterfall, and she knew exactly where the Doctor had gone. Glancing at the brochure, she realised she probably had close to eight hours before he came back.
Eight hours by myself on a resort planet? A smile crept over Rose's face, and she jogged back to the TARDIS.
The ship hummed again, and Rose ran her hand along the wall as she walked to their room. She hesitated at the door, suddenly unsure if she wanted to see it for the first time without the Doctor by her side. Another door appeared across the hall, and she smiled gratefully as she walked into the room that had been hers for over two years.
A familiar turquoise sundress and a small bag were waiting for her, and Rose giggled at the ship's awareness even as she changed her clothes. It felt good to peel off the heavy trousers and boots that had been part of her armour as she crossed the Void.
Digging into the front pocket of the bag, she found a credit stick. I missed you, Dear, she told the ship, receiving an affectionate hum in return.
Rose found the front desk easily and checked into the Leisure Palace. She was passing by the swimming pool on her way to her room when something tugged at her time senses.
After scanning the room slowly, her gaze settled on a ginger woman sunbathing in a lounge chair. Everyone else's timeline was a simple line, but hers wove around itself.
Exactly like a time traveller's would, Rose recognised, and walked toward her.
"How'd you finally get the Doctor to take you to a resort planet, then?" she asked casually.
"Found one with some weird alien thing he could do," the woman said, and her exasperation made Rose smile. A second later, her eyes flew open. "Who are you?"
"Rose. Rose Tyler."
The other woman squealed and jumped to her feet. "Oh, this is brilliant!" she said as she pulled Rose into a tight hug. "We didn't know there was a crack here!"
Rose smiled at her excitement. "You have me at a disadvantage."
"Right, sorry. I'm Donna Noble."
"I'm glad to meet someone who knows exactly how to get what she wants out of the Doctor." Rose smiled, letting her tongue peek through her teeth. "Listen, do you mind if I go change into a bathing suit and then join you? You can tell me all about what you've gotten up to with the Doctor."
"I'd love it," Donna said genuinely.
Rose thought about the way Donna had greeted her while she changed. She'd wondered if the Doctor talked about her, or if he'd buried the memories like he tended to do; well now she had her answer.
After she changed, she checked the full length mirror to make sure she looked all right. The red bikini fit perfectly, like TARDIS-provided clothes always did. She wrapped a sheer black sarong around her waist and nodded approvingly.
Too bad the Doctor isn't here to enjoy it, she thought. Then a wicked idea occurred to her. Rose closed her eyes and quieted her mind, focusing as hard as she could on her bond with the Doctor. After a minute, she could tell he'd noticed her attempt and she brought to mind the picture of herself, ready to enjoy the resort.
Immediately, she felt a combined pulse of appreciation and frustration come from him. She grinned in satisfaction, and not just at his reaction. That was gratifying, of course, but this was also the first time she'd attempted to contact him from this far away.
She remembered what he'd said before they bonded about being able to communicate with your bond mate, no matter how far away they were, and she realised she could tease him much more efficiently once their bond became the full marriage bond.
When she returned to the pool area, Donna had ordered her a drink. "Because we need to celebrate. I didn't know what you liked, but I thought a fruity drink with one of those little umbrella thingies would fit the atmosphere."
"It's perfect, Donna," Rose said, taking a sip of her mai tai. "Oooh, made just the way I like it, with Maldorian rum."
She took another sip, then set the drink down. "I take it the Doctor's talked about me?"
Donna snorted. "Are you joking? I can barely get him to stop talking about you—no offence."
"None taken," Rose said, stifling a laugh.
"Yeah, well he probably wouldn't say quite so much, except I was there right after you said goodbye, and then again when you disappeared six months ago."
Rose was tempted to ask Donna how he'd been, especially after their goodbye, but she bit the question back. As much as she wanted to know, she wanted the Doctor to tell her.
"That wrecked me," she said instead. "I can't believe I forgot about the stupid auto-recall." She remembered something Donna had said earlier. "Wait, so you've been looking for cracks from this side?"
"Yeah, he started a scan right after London, looking for cracks of any size. It's funny—I wonder why she didn't tell him you might be here."
A twinge of unease ran through Rose. If the Doctor'd had the TARDIS scanning for cracks, she should have told him there was one here. The only reason Rose could think of that she wouldn't was if there was something he needed to be doing, something he wouldn't do if he knew she was coming.
"So, coming here was your idea?" Rose asked casually.
Donna nodded. "I spent hours on the internet, looking for a resort near something weird and alien. I figured a planet made of diamonds under a sun that will kill you would probably intrigue him."
Rose nodded, and pushed away her misgivings. If the TARDIS hadn't brought them here, then maybe it was just a coincidence that the crack had opened right when they got here. And maybe… maybe she hadn't seen the crack in time to tell the Doctor.
Donna smiled gently. "He's been completely fixated on finding you. How long were you together before you were trapped?"
"Officially, not quite three months. But really, we were together from the moment I set foot on his ship… so that would be almost three years."
Rose felt her own grief welling up, and cleared her throat. "But you've apparently heard all about me already. Tell me some of the things you've done with the Doctor."
Donna accepted the change of topic and Rose listened while she launched into the story of their recent adventure in the Library.
oOoOoOoOo
An hour later, they were lounging in the hot tub, exchanging stories about meeting the Ood. "Good for you!" Rose said when she heard Donna'd played a huge role in finally freeing them from slavery. "I wanted to join the Friends of the Ood back when we met them, but well… time travel doesn't really lend itself to club membership."
"Or holding down a regular job," Donna agreed. "Every time I talk to my mother—which isn't often, mind—she reminds me that I'm just a temp."
Rose looked at Donna, really looked at her. "Oh Donna, you're so much more than that," she said earnestly. "You are going to do amazing, incredible things."
Donna looked at her askance. "How could I? I'm nobody."
"You aren't. You travel with the Doctor, and that means you're always in a position to make a difference, somehow. Who was it who convinced the Ood not to destroy you and the Doctor?"
Something tugged at Rose's time senses, and she focused on it, ignoring Donna for a moment. There was a tipping point nearby, a moment in time where two possibilities sharply diverged from each other.
"Bugger," she muttered.
"What's that, Rose?"
"I know why the TARDIS didn't tell you there was a crack here," she said grimly. "Something's about to happen on that bus, and the Doctor needs to be there to make sure it doesn't."
Donna looked at her, wide-eyed. "You can see it too, then? The Doctor told me when we were in Pompeii… He said he could see time, what could be changed, what couldn't."
"Yeah. I can see it too." Rose looked at Donna sharply. "What was he thinking, taking you to a fixed point?"
"Oh, well he was trying for Rome." The two women shared a look of amused commiseration over the Doctor's spotty driving record, then Donna said, "As soon as he realised where we were, he wanted to leave, but…" The look on Donna's face was half embarrassment, half resentment.
Rose shifted and stretched her legs out in front of her. "Did he ever tell you—I mean really tell you—what a fixed point is?"
"Something that can't be changed."
"More than that." Rose flexed her fingers, remembering the itchy, crawling feeling under her skin when she'd come across a fixed point. "I've only been near a fixed point once, and as soon as I got there, I made my team turn around and leave. Because if we'd done something, if we'd changed what happened there that day, even accidentally, it would have damaged the fabric of reality."
Donna raised an eyebrow. "You're talking like him now. Fabric of reality?"
"Yes!" Rose exclaimed. "Most events you can change, and Time just compensates for the difference. But there are some things, some events so integral to everything around them that to change them would send ripples throughout time, and everything would start to collapse."
"Well, why didn't he just say that then?"
"You didn't just agree with him when he said you needed to leave. You stayed and demanded he try to make a difference." Rose shrugged. "I love him, but the Doctor doesn't like to be challenged."
"How did you know I did those things?"
Rose laughed. "Because you, Donna Noble, are brilliant."
"So there's something happening on the bus that the Doctor needed to be there for?"
"Yep."
In the quiet moment that followed, Rose paid attention to the emotions she felt from the Doctor. He wasn't scared; that was good. But his bubbly happiness had completely disappeared, leaving behind the strength and determination she'd always felt from them when they were in the middle of a serious situation.
Donna shifted in the water, sending ripples over Rose. "Well, I don't know about you," she said, "but suddenly I'm not interested in a spa day."
Gratitude rushed over Rose. "I'll meet you in the cafe in fifteen minutes," she said, standing up as well.