A/N: my muse insisted that I add this. Sorry.

Part Seven

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As he stood in front of a shop changing room mirror, examining himself in a new pair of trousers and matching jacket, Chris realised that he was contemplating letting the Doctor take over this aspect of his life. Shouldn't he wrestle back control and banish the Doctor forever? The decision to leave the suit behind in the first place had caused his life to disintegrate around his ears. Why was he allowing such thinking to happen again? And then he got his answer: Donna smiled at him.

It was a smile that lit up his world and washed everything else away. In that moment he would have done absolutely anything for her in order to make her happy. "Do you like this suit?" he inevitably asked her.

She nodded enthusiastically. "I like that one the most. It makes you look very handsome," she admitted with great honesty. What she held in was the thought that the suit with the tie they'd picked out would complement the dress she had just bought too; or should that be the dress he had just bought her? It made her feel a bit like a kept woman to have him buy her the dress, despite his insistence on doing so. But they could write it off as an early Christmas present, couldn't they? Well, she could, if she didn't think about the price, and what such a gift would imply about their relationship. So she risked saying, "You look gorgeous!"

Chris blushed with delight. "Would you let me... Although you don't have to if you don't want to... But then again you might not mind... Could we perhaps go to this thing on Saturday together? I had a personal invite from Pete Tyler, and I... I erm... I really don't know many people there so I'd need you to help me with names and such, so if you don't mind...," he blustered on.

Donna took pity on him, and silently screamed with excitement that he had asked her when she had long stopped hoping he would. Calming herself down, she rested her hands on his shoulders, smiled encouragingly and told him, "I think that can be arranged, since you've just bought me the dress and all. Don't worry; I'll introduce you to everyone and I'll make sure you don't have to panic."

To both his surprise and let's be honest, to hers, he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her briefly on the lips. He pulled back in shock that he had done that. "Oh! I do apologise. You're not mad at me, are you?"

"Honestly?" she asked, noting that her heart was soaring with happiness at the admission. "No. What's a kiss between friends?"

But the pair of them walked away from the shop that day feeling very happy with themselves that a small step forward had been taken in their relationship; Chris for having finally done it, and Donna for the promise of more that it held.

The following morning Donna arrived at work without the usual Monday morning blues, eager to face the week. There were a couple of Christmas parties for her to attend, mostly within Torchwood, and there was the prospect of the coming weekend. For once she allowed herself to hope that things were getting better in her life without being frightened of the consequences.

By the afternoon Donna was sat at Clarissa's desk feeling quite important. There had been a phone call that morning asking her to fill in as the acting PA for Mr Tyler, and Donna had jumped at the chance to prove her worth. She knew she could do this job easily; if only someone would give her the permanent chance.

A blur of blondeness swept in on the wave of some expensive perfume; and before Donna could even ask who she was or see her face, a question was flung in her direction. "Is he in? I need to ask…" The woman then wrenched open the inner door before bothering to face her properly. When she did there was more than a surprised gasp of shock. As Donna stood to apprehend the blonde there was also a flash of recognition on the woman's features, and at that moment Donna knew she was probably gazing at Chris' lost Rose.

Rose had a piece of card in her hand, one that she waved about to emphasis her query. "Donna! It's true then; he's come back for me. Where is he? Tell me where I can find him. Please!"

"Find him?" Donna repeated, shocked at this onslaught. "Who exactly are you trying to find."

Rose then waved the card under Donna's nose and she saw a large photo of herself that had obviously been taken at the Christmas party on Friday night. "Him!" she said, angrily pointing at the man in the photo. "Don't mess me about, Donna. I know he's here, so tell me!"

"You mean the Doctor? Yeah, I know where he might be," Donna answered, taking in Rose's agitated stance. Not another woman he had seduced! Was he working through a list? And how the heck did she know her name? Had Chris gone around telling everybody? "Come on then if it's that important," she huffed, and strode out, flinging a request towards Sally to mind her desk for ten minutes.

Leading Rose down to Chris' lab was a bizarre experience. Rose seemed to think Donna knew all about her and cared a great deal about her affair with the Doctor, judging by what she was saying. All Donna did was nod in the right places and internally fumed, yet again, that he had chosen her as his latest victim.

Eventually they ended up outside Chris' lab; she'd only been there a few times, when they had arranged to meet for lunch, but things might be awkward with the Doctor being there. "Hang on a minute," she said to Rose, who looked decidedly put out by that; and she opened the door to peep in. If Chris was in the middle of testing out a piece of technology he could be more than frosty.

There was no sign of Chris, but the lab wasn't empty. Draped over the sofa was the Doctor, looking as though he was waiting for a photographer to bark orders at him. Feeling annoyed with herself for feeling the usual flutter of butterflies in her stomach when she saw him, Donna called out, "Doctor! There's someone here who is desperate to see you."

"Donna!" he cried out in joy, gracefully leapt up and almost bound towards her in his eagerness. "My, it is delightful to see you, my love."

Before she had a chance to draw breath, she was swept up into a tight embrace within his arms and spun around. Once again she was aware how great a kisser he was. That man could compete in an Olympic event, if they ever include it.

"Doctor?! What are you doing?" Rose loudly demanded from behind them. She couldn't believe her eyes. He was there to rescue her and take her back to the real universe with him, and he was messing about hugging Donna Noble of all people!

The Doctor lifted his head and regarded the person who had just fired an accusation in his direction. "Rose, what are you doing down here? Shouldn't you be enjoying your new inheritance?" he nonchalantly asked.

Rose practically exploded at him. "I'm here because I thought you had found a way to rescue me! But instead I find you cavorting with her!"

"Ah!" He gently released Donna enough to only hold her hand possessively. "You've got the wrong Doctor, Rose. I'm the one that wasn't right for you. Remember? Anyway…" There was a slight wink towards Donna and a cheery smile. "I found someone who would give me a second glance. Thank you for enticing her down here, and I'm sure you have better things to do with your time."

"You're…him?" Rose pondered, trying to catch up mentally with what had just been dropped on her. "But you said you didn't want to look like this anymore." She did a graceful sweep of the hand downwards to denote his outfit.

"How human of me," he mocked her. "I must have thought I was in with a chance with you to do that. Still… I'm over all that now."

Donna stood there feeling utterly confused. Who had been Rose's boyfriend when? Had she dumped Chris to be with the Doctor and then gone back to Chris? She could see no other way of explaining it. And now the Doctor was using her to score points off Rose by the look of things.

"I see that you had to seek out Donna Noble in order to cope in this world," Rose retorted.

What? Another person calling her Donna Noble; the cheek! "Excuse me, but my name is Donna Smith," she testily pointed out, "and I'm standing right here, in case you hadn't noticed."

Strange! Rose looked as though she had just slapped her around the face.

"You're Donna… Smith," Rose said faintly. She then hastily switched her eyes from Donna onto the Doctor and back again.

He merely shrugged dismissively. Oh, he was enjoying this; letting her think Donna was his wife. "Yes, she is," he stated proudly, and waited for the fallout.

Rose clasped her hands over her mouth in grief. He'd done what? He couldn't! He wasn't supposed to treat her this way. He'd been created for her; he was her gift, not some Donna Noble! Not knowing what to do, she let out an anxious sob, turned tail and ran from the room filled with his smug grin.

"That went well," he remarked to Donna once they were alone. "Fancy some tea?"

"No thank you; I have to get back to my desk. But, Doctor..?" Donna tried to ask the million questions floating through her head. "I don't understand. Why piss her off like that? What did she do that was so wrong?"

"Remember how you reacted within minutes of meeting me? You let me hold you close; we kissed and made physical promises to each other. Well, she didn't do any of that. Quite the opposite in fact," he explained. "All she cared about was me looking like this."

But…? Rose had acted as though she loved him beyond all else. What had just happened? This didn't tie in with the image of him as some Lothario.

"It's all so confusing… If you are going to look like that, why is it wrong of her to want you to?" Donna wondered.

The Doctor made a point of cupping her cheek and looking deep into her eyes. "I don't want you to worry your pretty little head about this, love. We'll arrange a date together and discuss this later."

"Hang on, you're talking as though you're my boyfriend," Donna stated, "and I'm not even sure if I would call you that."

In answer, the Doctor lifted his hand and brushed her temple. "You are mine, Donna Noble; and you will class me as your 'boyfriend'; bizarre title that it is. Are we quite clear about that?"

Donna hastily nodded as yet another hazy fog settled within her mind. "Yes, Doctor; very clear," she replied, to his deep satisfaction.

"Good girl!" he declared with a joyful grin. "I have chosen you as my mate, and I shouldn't have to remind you that it will be dangerous to break this bond. Now go and be spectacular," he said, giving her a brief kiss before releasing her to return to her office.

When Donna stepped out of the lift and made her way back to Clarissa's desk she shook her head to clear the fog. What had she agreed to with the Doctor? She held a hand up to hide her eyes from the light and found that she couldn't quite remember; a fact that worried her enormously. Suddenly she needed to speak to Chris and ask him about this and hear his soothing voice. Was she going insane? And would she know if she was? Only time would tell.