Hello at last, my darlings, and my most enormous apologies for the uber delay in this one. The problem is, my mind is crowded with ideas, what with having my Life On Mars story to update as well as oneshots to be written all over the place... anyway. here's a new chapter now, and that's what really matters :)

And what a chapter it is! Very short, I'm afraid, but very important - to you lovely Shakespeare fans, it's the crucial scene that takes place right after Claudio and Hero's disastrous wedding. And for non-followers, it's simply the one you've all been waiting for. I shall keep my lips zipped, rather like the master when he talks to the president... gosh, that made me laugh.

Anyway! Allons-y! Reviews much applauded, appreciated, read and re-read scrupulously and taken on board in all future writing. Merci beaucoup, au revoir!

Donna xxx

Chapter Twelve - A Beacon Of Hope

Jack sighed as he rounded the corner - so much had happened today, so many awful things, and what he needed was a little time to himself, just to think all of this through and try to make some sense of it. How could the Doctor have done such a thing? What could Rose have possibly done to make him so aggressive, so angry and hurt? There were so many questions running through his mind, and right now he just had to sit down and try to make some sense of it.

But, it, seemed, somebody else had beaten him to it.

"Oh, ah..." he stuttered as he saw Donna already sitting on the long couch, "Sorry, I'll just..."

At that, she looked up from the spot she'd been staring at blankly, clearly lost in her own thoughts, and shook her head slightly.

"No, it's alright." she said quietly, sounding exhausted but managing a tiny smile as he, somewhat hesitantly, sat down beside her.

"How is she?" he asked.

Jack, although obviously distressed about the events that had transpired, was at least a little thankful that it gave he and Donna something to talk about. He wasn't quite sure where they stood - although they had barely been arguing over the past few days, they were hardly to be found having a friendly conversation either.

"Better." Donna said flatly, her expression remaining blank, "It took us a good couple of hours to get her calmed down after..."

She swallowed, as though this was immensely hard for her, "After he left, but she's gone home with Gwen."

"She'll take care of her."

"I know."

She looked at him properly now, "I don't doubt that. You've got a brilliant team here, Jack."

A tiny smile threatened to break out, making her, in his eyes, all the more beautiful, "Well... Gwen and Ianto, at least."

"Ooh, that is harsh!" he responded immediately, before considering, "Although, I gotta admit, the other two..."

And Donna laughed for the first time since this had all started - there was just something about Jack that could always lighten her mood, whatever the circumstances.

"There we go, bit of a smile! Seriously, though," he added concernedly, "Are you okay?"

"Oh, don't you worry about me." she replied quietly, running a weary hand through her hair, "I've been sleeping in my room on board the TARDIS, but Ianto said he would make up a bed for me in one of the spare rooms upstairs, so..."

"Uh uh." he shook his head, "I didn't mean that. How are you coping?"

"Oh... disastrously." she said, so honestly it broke Jack's heart a little, "I seem to be upset, confused, annoyed and furious all at the same time... but I don't think there's anything Ianto can do about that."

"Well... could I?"

"Hmm..." Donna seemed to think about it for a moment, before saying seriously, "Only an incredible man could help me now."

Her eyes glinted as she looked back into his, "So no, Jack, it's not really your area."

He chuckled, and for a few moments, there was a companionable silence as the two of them were lost in their own thoughts. Everything that had happened today swirled around Jack's mind, all of the chaos and heartbreak... but there was just one thing that stood out in the crowd, that was always, without fail, a beacon of hope in the darkness: her. She was in every single one of his thoughts, the thing that always made him happy when everything else was so awful.

"You know, Donna," he said suddenly, his voice, if anything, slightly disbelieving, "I think I might love you. Funny, huh?"

There was a minute where she just let his words hang in the air around them, tried somehow to comprehend what he had just told her, before she spoke again, her voice weary:

"I don't know if funny is the word for it. Oh, God..." she choked suddenly, putting her head in her hands as her eyes filled up and her voice grew more panicky, "I don't know how to describe it, Jack, I haven't got a clue how I feel right now, how to understand everything that's happened today, what you're telling me! It's awful, but I just don't know what to think!"

"You know what I think?" he said, somehow managing to keep completely calm and to the point, "I think you love me too."

"Stop it!" she screeched suddenly, jumping to her feet, "Don't! Just... don't, Jack! You don't know how it feels to hear you say that, how much it kills me!"

"What?" he cried, desperately confused and hurt by the fire in her eyes as she glared down at him, "Donna, why-?"

"Because," She was sobbing now, seemingly more upset than angry, barely able to get her words out, "People have said it to me before, so many times, so many and God knows they haven't meant it in the slightest! Love isn't something to be said in the spur of the moment like that, it just doesn't work. You've seen the way it affects people, you've seen Martha go mad over the Doctor, you've seen him and Rose, the way that turned out, and everybody just ends up miserable, all the time! It's just so... tricky, and I'm so confused and I..."

She finally stopped shouting now, stopped to take several deep breaths that were still wracked with sobs, before finally she spoke again, her voice shaky.

"I just can't bear to hear you say that so casually, Jack, so flippant--"

"What?" he cried again, this time in sheer disbelief, and jumped to his feet so he could look into her glistening eyes, "Casual? Flippant? Donna, I've never given anything this much thought, never meant something so completely and utterly in my entire life! I love you!"

He almost felt like laughing at how ridiculous this was, couldn't believe that she could possibly doubt him now.

"Really?" she whispered, "You... you're not gonna go back on that?"

"Not if I live for a million years." he smiled faintly, "Which, come to think of it, is very likely, in fact..."

And after a moment, amazingly, she laughed. It was a beautiful sound, that rang through Jack's ears and made him feel as though the world had been lifted from his shoulders.

"That reminds me, actually..." she smiled cheekily, "I was just about to tell you how much I hate you."

He blinked in surprise, before she suddenly seized him by the collar, pulling him towards her so they were just inches apart as she said, her voice completely even:

"And all the same, just how much I bloody love you."

And then, quick as a flash, although it felt like it had taken an age to get to that point, the distance between them was closed, the gap finally bridged as their lips met in a kiss... and what a kiss it was, one that reflected and represented their relationship entirely: fierce, fiery, fast and beyond passionate. And it was as though all the years had been leading up to that moment, made the two of them simultaneously wonder how they could possibly have stayed apart for so long. Everything clicked into place in those few moments, and they both knew that this was exactly where they were supposed to be.

It must have lasted a good few minutes - neither of them were exactly sure, but all the same when they eventually broke apart it felt, to Jack at least, like he had been ripped in half.

"Jack," Donna gasped suddenly, breaking their kiss but remaining, thankfully, wound tightly in his arms, "Jack, I need you to help me."

"What?" he managed, mightily confused even as he tried desperately to catch his breath.

"I need you to help me fix what's happened!" she told him, her objective focused, her voice now strong, "To Rose, that poor girl... I need the Doctor to know what he's done to her, how upset he's made her. I need to get back at him for this, I need him to realize. Can you go along with me, and help me think of a way to make that happen?"

"Um..."

He couldn't think, couldn't concentrate on what Donna was saying when his lips were still moist from hers, when the taste of her lingered in his mouth...

"I don't kno..." he began, but quickly changed his tone when she raised her eyebrows, determination in her gaze as she willed him to go along with her.

He knew exactly what she wanted to hear, what awaited him if he agreed... and there was no way he would let her slip from his grasp now, at the final hurdle.

"Of course." he told her firmly, "I'm with you all the way."

He waited, and sure enough his words had the desired effect. Sure enough, she pulled him towards her once more, into another mind-blowing kiss.

"What d'you think?" she whispered playfully against him lips soon after as, subconsciously, the two of them began to move toward the door.

"I think..." he began, his voice a mere mutter, before lifting Donna off her feet and securely into his arms and heading straight upstairs without looking back. And not until they were through his office, right on the top floor, until they were at the door to his bedroom, did he finish his sentence, a wide grin across his face.

"I think we can tell Ianto not to bother making up that spare bed."