Two weeks between updates - that's a new record for me, and believe me when I say I'm sooo sorry. But at the minute I'm rehearsing to play Sandy in Grease as well as a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream and I really have no time. Plus, I've had mountains of coursework, so blame the GCSEs! Shouldn't take so long to post in future, but if on the off chance it does I aplogise in advance. Hope you like, it would mean a lot to me if you reviewed.
Donna xxx
Chapter Eight - Funny, That
Gwen and Ianto just about managed to keep it together until they were out of sight and earshot of Jack's office, but the moment they rounded a corner they both collapsed onto one another, laughing hysterically.
"Oh god, I wish we could've seen Jack's face!" Gwen spluttered with a huge grin.
"I know. I honestly didn't know if I was gonna keep it together back there."
Still giggling, they entered the main part of the hub to find Rose waiting impatiently, sitting on a desk. As she looked up and saw them her face split into a wide smile and she hopped down to come towards them.
"That was fantastic!"she cried, "I heard the whole thing. Poor Jack, he's gonna be so confused right now! You two were so convincin', though, I would have fallen for it. Me an' the Doctor are gonna have a hard job beating that performance!"
Gwen heard footsteps, and her eyes widened.
"Speakin' of whom." she muttered, "Donna alert."
Immediately, Rose and Ianto's laughing faces were replaced with panic-stricken ones, and the three of them scurried to separate desks so the woman in question would not suspect anything. Sure enough, a second later, Donna and the Doctor entered through the cog door, and it was all they could do to stifle their giggles.
After everyone had greeted them, the Doctor raised his eyebrows questioningly at Rose. With a glance at Donna to make sure she didn't pick up on it, Rose took stood up, took his hand and pulled him out of the room and around the corner, looking for somewhere they could go to talk. Eventually she settled for the autopsy room, and hopped onto the table often used as a medical station.
"So?" the Doctor asked the second they were alone, "How d'it go?"
"Oh, it was great." Rose enthused, "Gwen and Ianto were so convincin'! Jack'll be properly baffled right now. Donna alright?"
"Yeah," he sighed, "I suppose. We've just been talking, she seems a bit under the weather. I think if this thing with Jack works out, it'll really help her. I think she needs this."
"Well, she won't have to wait long now," Rose said, "Operation - Do we have an name for it? It feels like we should... we can ask Ianto to think of one later - is well and truly underway. We've shown Jack how he really feels, now all we've gotta do is the same for Donna!"
The Doctor grinned at her, one eyebrow raised, and Rose felt a familiar flutter in her stomach - only this time, it wasn't because of how much she missed him but how excited she was to be back with him again. She couldn't believe that they had only been reunited three days ago, it honestly felt like she'd never been away. All the heartbreak she'd felt, the pain and utter- no. It didn't matter how she'd felt any more, how awful those three years had been.
The only thing that mattered right now was the twinkle in the Doctor's eye as he asked her cheekily: "That's all we've got to do?"
A small smile crept across Rose's face, and she batted her eyelashes at him in a flirtatious, over-the-top manner, "Well," she mused, pouting, "I suppose we could... postpone that for a little while."
"Donna's not exactly going anywhere..." he mused, inching closer, closer every second. At this short distance, Rose could see his features right up close, pick out the tiny details of his features that just made him him - the lock of hair that always, always fell onto his forehead, the way his mouth turned up ever so slightly at the edge so he was always on the brink of a smile, the delicate shape of his face... Oh god, it would take her the rest of her life to list all the things that made her love him.
"Yeah," she practically whispered, so in the moment, "We 'ave got four more days to deal with Donna."
There were literally mere inches between them now, "We've got all the time in the universe." He murmured, and Rose could feel the last few words on her lips as they finally touched. She knew that he wasn't just talking about Jack and Donna, either: they could really be together forever. This was magic.
xXx
Mickey ambled through the Hub, desperately alone. Upstairs, he had hoped to talk to Jack, but the Captain had brushed him off, claiming he had work to do. Down in the main room, he found Gwen, Ianto and Donna all laughing hysterically... but when he plastered a smile on his face, chuckled along with them and asked what was funny, their faces had fallen.
"Oh, erm..." Ianto had started, but evidently he hadn't found the sentence important enough to finish.
"Eer... private joke." Gwen said hurriedly, and all Donna gave him was a quick eyebrow raise as if acknowledging how pathetic he was, before turning straight away back to Gwen and Ianto, whose faces immediately lit up once more.
"So then it turns out I've had the code all along, only neither me or the Doctor have fig..." The three of them became immediately absorbed in their conversation once more, and that was all the time they had for Mickey. In all his life, he had never felt more like the tin dog.
With a sigh, he returned to his desk - if no one else would enjoy his company, all there was to do was work. Frowning, he began to sort systematically through the assorted papers on the table, and came across a medical report that he'd written up for Martha ages ago after a long forgotten autopsy. He decided to take it to her, not because she desperately needed it but because she seemed to be almost in the same boat as him - an outsider, quiet, and the only person who was as sickened by the Doctor and Rose's relationship as he was.
The thought of them two together was constantly playing on his mind, making him sick to the stomach with jealousy, but as he entered the autopsy room it got a thousand times worse. Because what he found there was really, really not Martha - no, he was met with the disturbing sight of the Doctor and Rose, completely unaware of their surroundings, kissing passionately. She was perched on the autopsy table as the Doctor stood in front of her, their arms wrapped so tightly around one another that it looked as though they would never let go.
He had to clamp his hand over his mouth to stop any noise escaping. This was wrong, all wrong. He didn't deserve her, this Doctor;he had come waltzing into their lives and ruined absolutely everything, before deciding to ditch his girlfriend in some strange parallel world with no warning whatsoever. Mickey had always stood by Rose, always - and this was the reward he got. Watching the woman he loved with another man. Nuh uh. That wasn't okay.
All of the hurt and jealousy that had been inside him for so long instantly vanished, only to be replaced by burning anger and hatred towards this man. So he would never get the girl - fine. So Rose didn't love him - that was perfectly okay. But if Mickey couldn't have her, then the Doctor most certainly couldn't.
His eyes ablaze, he silently slipped out of the room, leaving them to it. Before, he had wanted to find Martha to give her the report. Now he was even more determined to speak to her, but for a completely different reason: they were going to do something to put an end to this, and soon. The Doctor and Rose may be in paradise now - but if Mickey and Martha had anything to do with it, they certainly wouldn't be for long.
xXx
"Who asked for Chinese?" Ianto called loudly, entering the Hub laden with several cartons and a carrier bag. Both Donna and Gwen grinned.
"Ooh, nobody asked but darlin', you read my mind." Gwen said with a smile, coming forward to help him carry some of the food. Not thirty seconds after they had put it down on the big conference room table, the Doctor and Rose entered eagerly.
"God, that smells gorgeous!" Rose exclaimed, immediately plonking herself down in a chair and helping herself.
"Hang on a minute," the Doctor took a sniff of something, his brow furrowing in deep concentration, before suddenly a huge grin broke out on his face, and he giddily exclaimed "This has got bananas in it!", before grabbing a pair of chopsticks and seating himself opposite Rose.
"You think Jack'll want some of this?" Gwen asked, swallowing her mouthful of food, "Someone 'ad better run up and get him, this is gonna go pretty quickly."
Inspiration hit the Doctor, and before anyone else could say a word, he spoke, "Donna, you quickly get him, eh? Everyone else has already started."
"What?" Donna cried, understandably outraged, "I don't see how that's fair, just because you lot are so greedy! Can't you just speak to him in your little ear thing?"
"No!" Ianto invented an excuse hurriedly, "The comms are down. Funny, that."
"We'll get Mickey to 'ave a look at them, it just happens sometimes." Rose chimed in, understanding now why they were doing this.
"Just run up, babe, it won't take long." Gwen said, "Promise we'll save you loads."
This was very strange - the four of them were gazing up at her with huge, pleading smiles on their faces. If she was honest, Donna found it a little creepy. Still, none of them were giving in, so she merely scowled and swept out of the room to get this over with. She stomped up the stairs, determined to be as haughty and belittling towards Jack as possible - so it came as a huge surprise to her when she entered his office without knocking and found him beaming at her like she was his long lost child or something.
xXx
Previously:
He and Donna had wasted enough time already, they could hardly spare a second more.
And, it seemed, they wouldn't have to. For at that exact moment, Donna Noble appeared at his door. And all Jack could think was My word, she is beautiful.
Although he was shocked to see her, he couldn't help but give her a huge smile as she entered - even if she was wearing a look of contemptuous boredom.
"Donna!" he exclaimed, "Lovely to see you!"
She looked slightly taken aback at his friendliness, but she appeared to wave it off, instantly reapplying her scowl and saying in an annoyed voice: "I really, really didn't want to - I mean, for all I care you could have starved - but they told me to tell you there's food on the go. Chinese."
And again, he ignored the dislike in her voice. She's just shy, he told himself, she doesn't know that you know how she feels about you, remember? Just be nice and she'll return the favour, "Lovely Donna, thank you for your trouble." he said flirtatiously, flashing her his most dashing grin.
She paid no notice whatsoever, "It was as easy for you to thank me as it was for me to tell you. Believe you me, Jack, if it had been any trouble I wouldn't have bothered coming up."
"Oh!" he said, pleasantly surprised, "So you enjoyed bringing the message?"
"Yeah!" she said enthusiastically, and for one glorious moment, Jack thought her smile was genuine - that was, until she added scornfully: "That is, about as much as I'd enjoy a pterodactyl bite. Look, you're not hungry, I get it." And with that, she swept out of the room, adding in an undertone: "Don't know why I'm bloody wasting my time up here..."
Jack smiled to himself. Bless her, she must be so confused. they'd been bickering like this for years, she clearly saw no reason to change her ways now. But when he let her know how he felt about her, she would. Oh she would. Never again would she have to handle things alone, put on a brave (if a little spiteful) face to get through the hard times, for he would be beside her.
But how to let her know how he felt? That would take some planning, Jack needed it to be special... best not to rush things. She would know, most definitely, soon, but right now all that mattered was the fact that he loved her. Because that fact was the one thing Jack was absolutely sure of.