Glad you liked the twist in the end. I hope you enjoy this next chapter.
By teatime, the Rani had become even surer of her guess. Donna exhibited the same rather irritating quirks that the Doctor had, boundless energy, a mind that leaped around as if it were on a pogo stick and, what had truly irked her when they were younger, a brilliant mind.
"Oh, this is a lovely, lovely piece of work!" said Donna, twisting her body to look under a device that the Rani was very sure was Sontaran manufacture. "Even got most of the oscillator chips still in it," she added and leaned further. The Rani nodded and grabbed her hand before she could unbalance and sighed, vexed.
"You really should try not to get so excited," she said and hauled her assistant upright. "Still, it needs to be fixed and I can't get into the main control module to take care of that without breaking it."
"Got a sonic screwdriver?" Donna asked hopefully. "I could probably take care of the fault quite easily with one." The Rani kept her smile hidden
"I think that you'll have to make one," she said and the absent-minded nod confirmed her theory. The trouble was, now what? The Doctor did not have the fob watch on her, and she could not figure out where he had put it, if indeed he had one. "It's time for lunch, Doctor," she said finally, testing the mind and got an abstracted nod in response. A Chameleon Arch would not have left responses like that.
"I'll be there in a minute," Donna Noble said and twisted a knob on the Sontaran cloaking device. Abruptly she toppled over. The Rani was at her side in a flash but relaxed when she saw the reason. The Sontarans had built in a security device that simply sedated every non-Sontaran by shutting down the higher brain functions briefly. She knelt down and pressed her fingers to Donna's face, then gasped as she saw the golden glow in her closed eyes.
"Your regeneration," she said to herself quietly and began to grin. "You botched your regeneration." She had heard that it could happen; regenerating only partway from an attack and this was the proof. Donna opened her eyes to find Dr Anne's face very close to hers and grinning delightedly. For a moment, she wildly wondered if Wilf had been needed as a chaperone but then she remembered the device.
"That thing knocked me out," she said with a note of irritation. Dr Anne sat back and raised her eyebrows in her infuriating way.
"You really need to work on your senses," she said cheerfully. "By the way, I think I've figured out why you have so few memories," she added and Donna's eyes opened wide.
"How?" she asked and winced at the headache that erupted. The Rani paused, trying to figure out how to break the news.
"I think you may be non-human," she said finally and held out a cup of tea. Donna took it reflexively and stared at her in shock. "You see, I think that you are the Doctor."
"What?" Donna shouted. Then she stiffened and looked at Dr Anne, seeing several faces overlaid upon it, all with the same gleam in her eyes.
"The Doctor is what is known as a Time Lord," Dr Anne went on and Donna felt the name echo and resound inside her. "He is also the protector of Earth and humanity. Several weeks ago, he rescued Earth from those who stole it and then vanished from everyone's knowledge."
"You say 'he'," Donna protested and looked down at herself. "I'm not a bloke."
"Time Lords have a special ability," Dr Anne said and smiled. "It allows them to cheat death and live. It is called regeneration." Donna gasped as she remembered being filled with light and sensing her body altering.
"Always wanted to be ginger," she muttered and then blinked in disbelief. "You mean it changes me from male to female?" she asked incredulously. Then her eyes narrowed. "And how do you know so much about it?"
"It is rare that the gender changes," Dr Anne admitted and then shrugged. "But you always wanted to be different. And I know because I am a Time Lord."
"Rani?" Donna asked in disbelief and then her headache struck again, nearly doubling her over. The Rani grabbed her and held her up, her fingers finding the points of contact on Donna's face.
"Yes, old friend, the Rani," she said and the headache was gone. She withdrew her hands as Donna straightened up. "And only the Doctor would recognize me," she added.
"Then why can't I remember?" Donna asked, her mind whirling in shock. "Even with your name and mine, I can't remember much more than that." The Rani took a deep breath.
"I think you had only a partial regeneration," she said and shook her head. "The Dalek weapons were probably responsible for that." For a moment she shuddered, remembering the pain as the Dalek weapon struck her and was only mostly absorbed by the watch. "If you partly regenerated, you would be stuck as a Time Lord in a human body, and a human mind would melt under that." She smiled faintly.
"So if I did remember, I could die?" Donna asked and shuddered. "No wonder Granddad doesn't want me to try that."
"He may have been your companion," the Rani said and shrugged. "It would explain a lot." Then she smiled. "But I think that I can help you. It will take a while and a lot of work, but all you really need is a bit more regeneration energy." Her smile turned to a grin. "And while what happened to you is not a common occurrence, it is by no means unknown."
"You think you can induce a full regeneration?" Donna asked, and then nodded. "We don't have the right equipment but we can jury-rig something." She grinned and the Rani knew that grin of old. "But why are you so anxious to help me?" she went on. "From what I remember, we have not been good friends for a long time."
"But we were," the Rani pointed out. "And since there are only the two of us left, that seems to me to be reason enough for helping." Then she paused and a grin split her face. "And I never stopped respecting you," she admitted. "The Doctor, the one who would break reality itself for his friends, the Oncoming Storm that even the emotionless Daleks feared, one only two Time Lords who could actually challenge me in a test of minds and win some of the time." She shrugged. "I'm lonely. Even the smartest human's can't really keep up."
"That I believe," Donna said and realized that she had not even thought about it. Then she had another thought and chuckled.
"Something funny?" the Rani asked suspiciously. The Doctor was an odd person at times.
"It's just that it seems ironic that the only ones left are the renegade time Lords," she said. The Rani nodded her agreement.
"We should break for lunch," she said practically and when Donna seemed about to protest, held up her hand. "No arguments Doctor. I don't want you to have that human body deteriorate on you. It's a lot more delicate than a Time Lord body and the limits are on you for now." She grabbed Donna's arm and almost dragged her out the door. "We are going to go eat."
"Right, no problem," Donna said, realizing that she had been feeling hungry for a while, just ignoring it. "Can we get more jelly babies? I ran out."
"No problem," the Rani said firmly. "After we eat," she added.
Wilfred Motts had been busy as well, calling several people that he knew from the Doctor. Even Torchwood had not had much to say about Dr Rachel Anne, certainly nothing to suggest that she was anything more than what she seemed. Even so, there was something odd about her, something that made him think of the Doctor. He hesitated a moment, then called the number that Captain Harkness had given him.
"Hello is this Martha Jones?" he asked. At the acknowledgement, he went on. "I need to talk to the Doctor. It's about my granddaughter, Donna Noble."
Hope you enjoy this update. If not, please tell me what is wrong so I can fix it, and please review.