I'm glad to see reviews so quickly. A prize for Saphreanna Grea for guessing correctly.
Wilfred Motts was looking through his telescope when he heard someone walking up the hill behind him. He turned to see Donna walking briskly up the steps.
"Any luck Donna?" he asked and then saw her wide grin. Ah good luck, then, he thought.
"Well, I wasn't able to get a job at the places I checked," Donna said and sat down next to him. "But on my way home, there was a bit of an accident and I helped clean it up and the person who I helped said she could use a good assistant. She didn't mind the gap in my resume, even."
"That's wonderful, Donna!" Wilfred said and hugged his granddaughter. He hadn't seen her so happy in weeks and knew she had been worried that she would be unable to get a job. Now there was a fresh sparkle in her eyes. "What are you going to be doing?"
"From what I can tell, mostly double-checking the stuff," Donna said cheerfully. "Dr Anne is a bit inclined to jump first and ask questions later," she added with a grin. The grin faded and she got the same odd look that she always did when trying to remember things. Wilf had to stop himself from mentioning that she had experience there.
"Sounds like a perfect job," he said instead. "You certainly find more things to clean than I ever notice." Donna rolled her eyes at that. "Probably you get that from your mum."
"Certainly not from my granddad," Donna retorted.
"What's this Dr Anne working on?" he asked, trying to keep her from trying to remember. Donna brightened up at that.
"Oh, several things," she said. "I saw her working on what she called an ATMOS device but I looked her up and she seems to mainly work on microchips and suchlike. Got several patents," Donna added.
"And she hired you off the street?" Wilf was faintly alarmed. Donna paused and considered.
"Well, I did help save her life from a cloud of toxic gas," she added and shrugged. "I think that's the main reason." Wilf relaxed. That didn't sound like something planned out.
"I'll drive you there," he said and Donna rolled her eyes.
"I don't think I'll need a chaperone," she said with a grin. "She didn't try to make a pass at me or even flirt."
"I'd just like to meet her," Wilf said, giving his granddaughter a stern look. "And I'd like to make sure there's little chance of you turning up scorched or burnt by some lab accident."
"Probably less danger there than there is walking across the street," Donna said and stood up. "Got to go, I need to read the stuff she gave me to refresh my mind for working." She walked away and Wilf leaned back, hoping that the Dr Anne was exactly what she seemed. There was a good way to find out. He pulled out his – or rather, Donna's – upgraded cell phone and dialed Torchwood.
The next day, Donna woke up refreshed, her incessant dreams having apparently taken the night off, although for some reason she remembered standing next to Dr Anne and building something. She shrugged it off and got dressed, filling her pockets with the jelly babies that she had acquired a taste for, before trotting down the stairs to eat breakfast.
"Sleep well?" her mother asked and Donna nodded. "I hear you've got a job. Hope you haven't overslept."
"Nah, I've got plenty of time," Donna said, but she did bolt down her food anyway.
"Ah, Donna," Wilf said as he came down the stairs. "I've already eaten so we can go as soon as you're done." Donna nodded and gulped down her tea, anxious to leave before her mum asked about Dr Anne.
"Don't stay out too late," Sylvia Noble called after her and Donna nodded.
"So, do you need directions granddad?" she asked Wilf as they got into his car.
"Course not, I looked it up on the map," he replied and Donna rolled her eyes.
"I really don't think that you needed to do a full-out investigation on my employer," she said.
"What makes you think I did?" Wilf asked and Donna leaned back in her seat.
"Because I never told you where I needed to go or even her full name," she pointed out and chuckled. "Not that I'm exactly surprised, by the way."
"Well, I was curious," her granddad said with a shrug. "She sounds like an interesting person."
"No kidding," Donna said and regretted it at once. It seemed to come from the same portion of her mind that had fixed the device. Fortunately her grandpa did not seem to notice. They arrived at the building quickly and Donna noticed that there was no garage or parked car nearby.
"Are you sure this is the right place?" Wilf asked, looking at the pleasant street that looked more like a residential area. Donna nodded and walked up to the correct building – without gas streaming out it this time – and knocked briskly on the door. The door swung open.
"Ah, good morning Miss Noble!" came a voice from inside. Wilf tried to see into the dark room but had blink several times before feeling safe about walking inside. Inside, a figure was bent over a table, and Wilf gasped slightly. The figure turned and Wilf breathed out in relief as he realized that whoever this was, she was not the Doctor. But the odd resemblance persisted.
"Good morning," she added and nodded to him. "Lab coats are in the closet and I could really use a helping hand here. This thing is heavy." Wilf hurried over and heaved at the machine. It was indeed very heavy, but he and (presumably) Dr Anne were able to lift it and place it on a much sturdier table.
"Pleased to meet you, Dr Anne," he said after catching his breath. Dr Anne blinked at him and seemed to be wondering how he knew her name. "I'm Wilfred Motts, Donna's grandfather."
"Ah, pleased to meet you," she replied, giving him a relieved smile. "My memory is sometimes a bit wobbly." She shook his hand vigourously and Wilf got the same odd feeling.
"Tell me, how safe is Donna going to be?" he asked. "I understand she rescued from toxic gas. Is that a regular occurrence?"
"Nah, just a special experiment that Torchwood wanted me to do for them," Dr Anne said with a cheerful smile. "Mostly I work on nice safe stuff like computers and stuff, but I do have a few odd pieces that get sent over here. They're not something I'm supposed to talk about though," she added apologetically.
"So, what do we do first?" Donna said briskly as she walked out of the closet, giving Wilf a look that told him he was being way too paranoid. Dr Anne grinned back at her and gestured her over to the device.
"Not very dramatic equipment, but quite interesting," she said and tapped several glowing lights on the machine.
"When should I come around tonight, Donna?" Wilf asked. "Or will you hitch a ride with Dr Anne here?"
"I don't have a car," Dr Rachel Anne said and shrugged. "Allowing for lunch and tea break, probably eight of the o'clock."
"Right, I'll be back around then," he said and Donna nodded and bent over the machine. He let himself out, closing the door behind him.
"So what will this do?" Donna asked after the door closed. She was wearing a lab coat that had several pieces of equipment stuck in it and as Dr Anne watched, she tapped the lights in a pattern that lit up several others.
"It is supposed to be a teleportation device," she replied, eyeing the new lights. "My own invention really, but I'm having problems with it." Dr Anne tapped a quick succession of commands and then smiled. "It seems that whatever you just did has cleared up the locator problem though."
"I wish I knew how I knew," Donna said glumly. She had somehow understood the device and it still made sense but the information simply hung in her mind without an explanation.
"I've made some calls," Dr Anne said and strode over to a computer that looked as though it had been disassembled and only put together part of the way. "Torchwood has no record of you interfering with their investigation, but it turns out that the Racnoss were defeated by someone else." She paused and turned to Donna Noble. "His name is entered as John Smith, but I can backtrack that as far as I need to. I think he may have been involved in your problems."
"You think that he might have taken my memories?" Donna asked and then paused. "How much do you know?"
"Quite a bit," Dr Anne admitted. "Have you heard of the Doctor?" She moved forwards as Donna gasped and steadied her. "I should have told you to sit down," she said. "Sorry."
"I remember the name," Donna said and her head exploded in pain.
"What else?" Dr Anne asked quietly. "What about Gallifrey?" Donna nodded and Dr Anne smiled faintly. "What about the name Rani?"
"That's familiar," Donna said and shook her head. "But it always seems to get farther away as I get nearer to it."
"Interesting," Dr Anne said and sat down beside her puzzling new assistant. "I think we should get back to the device, let your mind rest a bit before we try again."
"Probably a good idea," Donna said and popped something into her mouth. She noticed the stare and held out her hand. "Do you want a jelly baby?"
"Thank you," The Rani said and took several. If Donna had known her name, and the Doctor's name, not to mention Gallifrey, what did it mean? As Donna got up and strode over to the teleporter, she put it all together and nearly choked on the jelly baby. The Doctor had not been seen on Earth since the Daleks had stolen it and now she found someone who knew Time Lord names and devices and she could remember that one regeneration had kept a bag of jelly babies with him at all times.
The pieces fit almost perfectly. Wilfred Motts had been very protective of her; he probably knew who she really was. She had even felt what she thought was a regeneration when she had been freed from the Chameleon Arch but had not been sure. Admittedly, it was unusual to have cross-gender regenerations, but the Doctor had always been unusual.
It all made sense now. Donna Noble was the Doctor.
I hope you enjoy this update.