A/N I am not the BBC nor am I Steven Moffatt.

Chapter 31

"Anything happening?" Donna asked, tapping Rose on the shoulder when she didn't respond. "Oi! You've gotta be my eyes now – what's going on?"

Rose hesitated for a moment, unsure. "I think….I think the Angels are goin' after the trees."

"The trees?"

"Mhm. All the electric trees are going out," Rose confirmed, trying to see exactly what was happening. "The Doctor will fix it. He said he could fix it from the primary flight deck." The clerics around them were shouting things to each other, but Rose and Donna couldn't make them out. The cleric who seemed to be in charge pointed into the trees, two of the others following his finger until they disappeared from sight. Marco and Pedro – the two remaining – began to speak again, still too low for Donna to hear.

"What're you saying?" Donna asked, her voice high and nervous from missing her sight. "What's goin on?"

"Just keep your eyes shut, ma'am," one of them called back to her. Donna's temper flared at being dismissed so quickly and she crossed her arms angrily, but kept her eyes closed. Best to be on the safe side, despite her spirit wanting to rebel against the soldier's dismissive tone.

Rose pulled her arm up to shield her eyes as a blindingly bright light flooded through the forest. "Is the ship on fire?" she asked incredulously, trying to squint to see. The cleric nearest her – Pedro – said that it couldn't be because the compressors could've fixed it.

"The Angels have gone," Marco noted once the light had faded a bit.

"What?" Donna screeched, gripping the log beneath her, "Where've they gone?" She was panicked – robbed of her eyesight and surrounded by creatures that only move when you can't see them…Donna Noble was in a bit of a sticky situation. "Are they coming after us?"

Rose stepped back and put a hand on her arm, showing that she was right by her side. "Don't worry. 'S gonna be alright."

Donna jerked her arm back. "I'm not a bloody invalid! Just tell me what's happening!"

"There's movement farther on," Marco told them, "Looks like the Angels are running."

"Running from what?" Rose asked, her brow scrunched up in confusion. The Weeping Angels didn't seem the type to run and hide.

Marco walked to the trees at the edge of the clearing, looking off to where the light was coming from. "I dunno. There's this….thing here…maybe they're running from the light?"

"It's like a curtain of energy, sort of shifting," Marco tried to explain. "Makes you feel sick to look at it."

"You wanna go check it out?"

"Nah. You go, Pedro," he replied, still looking out at the light. "Just be careful."

"Alright. Keep an eye on these two," Pedro added with a jerk of his head toward Rose and Donna, who gave an indignant "Oi!"

Rose squinted at the light, her eyes struggling to make any sense of the scene. When they finally adjusted to focus on the source of the light, her jaw went slack. "But that's….." she breathed, her eyes widening despite the intense light. "That shouldn't be….."

"Sorry, ma'am? Do you know something about it?"

Rose blinked, still staring at it. "Yeah, but it shouldn't….he got rid of it," she mumbled absentmindedly. "Sorry," she said, jerking back to reality and tearing her eyes away from the light. "S'just…the last time I saw that crack, it was on a wall in Amy's house. Then the Doctor came and the prisoner came out and then the Doctor saved the earth set it all right again. It was gone. So why is it back?"

There was a pregnant pause. And then, "Do you want me to go have a look?"

"Pedro'll be back soon," Donna chimed in, "We can just wait and see what he says."

"Pedro?"

"Yeah, dumbo, the cleric you just sent exploring." Donna thought for a moment. "Come to think of it, the other two've been gone for quite some time now."

"Donna, there was never anyone called Pedro," Rose said, turning to the woman. "Are you feeling alright?"

Donna frowned, her eyebrows scrunching together over her tightly closed eyes. "Yes there was. Pedro went exploring, just like the other two."

"The other two? I'm sorry ma'am, but there's only ever been the three of us here," Marco said, sharing a look with Rose.

"No! There was Pedro and Philip and…Crispin!" she cried, hoping for some sort of reaction from them. Nothing.

"Crispin?" Marco said after a while, as though he'd been thinking over it. "I don't think I know a Crispin."

"You sent him away not even an hour ago!" She waited for a response, but there was none. "You've forgotten," she said quietly. "Oh my god. I don't know how, and I don't know when, but you've forgotten all about Crispin, Pedro, and Phillip. Like they never even existed," she finished in a terrified sort of whisper.

Rose looked at Marco, concern present in the features of her face. She looked back at Donna, who was holding her arms close to her body and straining to keep her eyes closed. "Maybe you ought to lie down," she suggested to Donna, who nearly fell off of her log.

"Lie down? You two've forgotten three people ever existed and you want me to lie down?"

Marco made a noise and Rose jerked her head up to see him staring at the light with a sort of….she could only describe it as lust etched onto his face. "I've got to go and see what it is," he told them, his voice raspy and rather desperate. "I can't explain it, I just….I need to check it out. Just gimme two minutes," he said, pulling a communicator from his bag and handing it to a doubtful Rose. "Here's the spare. I'll be back in a moment, it's just in case."

She hesitated. "I…I dunno. We ought to listen to Donna. Maybe the light's doing something funny with our heads."

Donna nodded her head violently. "Yeh, listen to Donna! Maybe she does know what she's talking about because she's the only one not looking at the freaky mind-controlling light!"

Rose, who had looked down at Donna when she'd begun to speak, looked back up at Marco, about to agree with Donna. That light wasn't natural. But the cleric had already stood and was making his way toward the edge of the clearing. She jumped up, the communicator slipping to the soft forest floor at her feet, and rushed after him, catching his arm to stop him. "No! What if it's gonna kill you or something? If Donna's right – and I think she is – then we've completely forgotten Phillip, Crispin, and Pedro, which to me seems a lot worse than dying! Just wait a bit and see what the Doctor has to say, please."

Marco yanked his arm out of her grip, meeting her eyes with a half-crazed sort of smile, and then turned and ran toward the light. "He's gone?" Donna asked, her voice quivering slightly beneath the condescending mask. "Suicidal nutter," she mumbled, though Rose could tell she was terrified. The communicator by her feet beeped and she fumbled around for a bit before grabbing it. "Hello?"

"I'm still alive. Haven't forgotten me yet, have you?" It was Marco. "I'm here. Looking at it….'s really weird. Kinda like a --" static.

"Hello?"

"Hello?" Donna tried again, clutching it so hard she feared it might break. Please answer, please answer, please answer…..

There was only static.

DOCTOR WHO

"Rose? Donna? Are you there?" he asked, praying to anyone who was listening that one of them would pick up.

"Doctor?" It was Donna; she sounded overjoyed. "Oh my God, it's you!"

His face fell at the franticness of her tone. "What's wrong? Where's Rose?"

"She's fine, she's here, but Doctor, the clerics, they –"

"It's the crack, Doctor," Rose cut in. "The crack in the universe, like on Amy's wall."

He drew in a sharp breath. "Yeah. Change of plans. Transporter's dead, so I'm gonna need you two to come back here yourselves. We're on the other end of the forest right now."

"….Okay. Which direction?"

The Doctor's mind was racing a hundred miles a minute. He scrambled for an idea, and it was already in motion before he'd formulated it. He had to keep Donna and his Rose safe. "Alright, the communicator. It's going to buzz, just turn around until it sounds like my screwdriver. Just turn on the spot. When it sounds like my screwdriver, you're facing the right direction."

"Thank you. Come on, Donna, up," she said. He could picture her helping Donna up and holding her arm to lead her around, the buzzing communicator in the other hand. After a moment, she spoke again. "Got it."

"Doctor," Donna began, probably taking the communicator as they began to walk. "When the clerics left, Marco and Rose couldn't even remember who they were. Is that….is that going to happen to us?"

"No," he said firmly. "I'm not going to let it."

"The Angels are going to get them," River – the ever positive – pointed out. At least she was quiet enough that the comm didn't pick up her words. "They'll not survive."

The Doctor spun to her, his face red and his jaw strained. "What else can I do, huh? Have you got a better idea? Because I'd love to hear it!" he was screaming by the end of his sentence, and he should've felt bad as she flinched away but he didn't. River Song was afraid of him and he didn't care.

"Doctor, there's Angels. I can see them, coming around the trees."

His attention was back on them in an instant. "Don't blink, Rose. Whatever you do, don't blink. They might be a bit distracted, might ignore you, but I don't want to take any chances. Don't blink. I can't lose either of you," he mumbled, almost too quiet for the comm to pick up on.

They were silent for a few minutes, save for terrified heavy breathing and the occasional startled shriek, generally followed by a sheepish apology. The Doctor and River worked at their respective computers, putting everything they had into rewiring the internal mechanisms of the communicator from miles away. The Doctor anxiously bit at his thumbnail, a habit that seemed to be new to this body. They just needed to hold on for just a few…more….

CRASH

seconds.

He caught Rose as she stumbled back, River catching Donna. "You're safe," she told them. "Donna, don't open your eyes. You're back on the flight deck. The Doctor and I got the teleport working, you're fine."

"Actually, River and I rewrote the entire system makeup for the communicator and created a new teleport. But what's the difference, really?" the Doctor asked absently, his eyes never leaving Rose's as he held her to him. "As long as it worked."

"Told you," River replied with a smirk and the Doctor nodded rather mindlessly, still staring at Rose.

"Yes, thank you, River. I could bloody kiss you." He grinned madly down at Rose, his eyes twinkling. "But I think I'd rather do this." And it was cheesy and utterly cliché, but his hands reached up to cup her face and the back of her neck and he kissed her the way he'd wanted to kiss her after that little spat they'd had with the Devil, and only the shrill alarm ringing throughout the deck made him pull back, grinning, and take her hand, ready to face the next thing the world threw at them.

"What's that?" Donna asked. "That a fire alarm or something?"

"The Angels are draining the last of the ship's power," the Doctor said slowly, pulling Rose over to the wall with the shields. "Which means these are going to release."

Sure enough, within moments, the bulkhead lifted to reveal a dozen, if not more, Angels staring back at them. There was one Angel closer than the rest, and the Doctor stepped right up to it. "Angel Bob, I presume."

"The Time Field is coming, sir. It will destroy our reality," the statue said in Bob's voice. Its mouth never moved.

"Yeah, and look at you all," the Doctor said, gesturing at them with his free hand, "You're running away. What can I do for you?"

"There is a rupture in time. The Angels calculate that if you throw yourself into it, it will close, and they will be saved."

Rose's grip on the Doctor's hand tightened, pleading for him not to do anything stupid. "Yeah, I could do that. But why?" He asked calmly, squeezing Rose's hand to reassure her.

"Your friends would also be saved, sir," Bob told them, and he sounded more sincere in this sentence. The Doctor seemed as though he were actually considering it for a moment, but River cut him off before he could say anything.

"I'm complicated! I've travelled in space and time – throw me in instead!"

The Doctor rolled his eyes, but Rose couldn't help but notice that he stepped a bit in front of River, as though he were protecting her. "Oh, be serious. Compared to me, these Angels are more complicated than you, and it would take every one of them to amount to me, so get a grip."

"I can't let you do this, Doctor."

He turned to her. "No seriously, get a grip."

She was persistent. "I can't let you die here, it's too –"

The Doctor turned to Rose instead and looked her right in the eye. "All of you need to get a grip." Something in the way he moved his nearly nonexistent eyebrows made it click with Rose. What had he said earlier, about the artificial gravity? If the Angels were killing the power, then that meant….he smiled as she released his hand and stepped back, looping her arm through Donna's and placing their hands firmly onto the desk in front of them, River mirroring her on the other desk.

"You genius," she breathed, looking at the Doctor in a sort of awed way. Like looking up to someone they thought was incredible. Like a child looking up to Superman. Like a little girl looking up to the person who had always been that sort of distant teacher figure, that – Rose shook her head to clear it, dislodging the unexpected torrent of thoughts. Where had that even come from?

"Hold tight to that," she whispered to Donna, who just sort of numbly followed directions, focusing on trying to understand the scene with only her ears.

"Sir," Angel Bob began, "I'm sorry, really I am, but there isn't another option. We need you." The words sounded empty, but Bob suddenly added something else and it was the first thing to come in his voice that felt real since he'd gotten here: "Newport University." It made no sense to anyone, not even the Doctor. Perhaps it would later.

"Oh, and I'm sorry, Bob, but I think the Angels have forgotten who they're dealing with. Thing is, the Angels are draining all the power from this ship. Every last bit of it. I think you've all forgotten the gravity of the situation. Or, to put it in other words…" he grabbed the railing beside him on the wall. "...night, night."

Rose was reminded vividly of being sucked into the Void at Canary Warf as the gravity failed and their bodies were lifted into the air, clammy hands struggling to keep a hold on the desk. The Angels fell back into the searing light the way water drips – one or two and then all of them at once. Rose almost felt bad. For Bob, at least. The light became too much to bear and her eyes snapped shut. She heard screaming to her right and she wrapped an arm around Donna's, trying her best to keep her friend secure.

All of a sudden, they all crashed to the floor in a heap, the silence after the deafening wind ringing in their ears. "Rose!" Before she could even answer, he was lying on top of her and she could feel his hearts beating like mad. He swallowed audibly. "That was a bit to reminiscent for my liking," he told her quietly. She knew what he was talking about, of course. She always knew.

"I'm fine," she promised, wrapping her arms around him, closing her eyes to breathe in his scent. "I'm still here."

They laid like that for a while, just reassuring each other that that had not been another Canary Warf. They were both fine. After a minute or two, River cleared her throat, and the Doctor looked over his shoulder to see the woman standing next to Donna, looking a bit impatient. He grinned and sat up, disentangled his legs from his Rose's, and held out a hand to help her up. "Impatient, are we?" he asked teasingly, striding past her and through the short corridor. "Oh, and Donna? You can open your eyes now."

She did, and instantly closed them again, her pupils being unaccustomed to light still. Slowly, she opened them again and jogged a bit to catch up with the group, climbing up the ladder and out onto the sand once more. They were in a huddle a few yards away and she walked to them. "Thanks for waiting, alien boy" she said sarcastically, though she was grinning.

Rose looked over her shoulder at River, who stood by herself a ways away. "I'll be right back," she told them, reaching up to kiss the Doctor on the cheek and she started to walk away and then turned and gave Donna a hug. "I'm glad you're not dead," she told her sincerely.

Donna laughed. "I'm glad I'm not dead, too," she admitted. "Thank you. You could've just left me, back in the forest, but you didn't, so thanks for that. You're a good friend."

Rose smiled and then walked over to River. "Hey." The woman looked over at her with a smile that Rose couldn't decide was fake or not. She went with not. "So, I heard you're in prison right now," she commented and River laughed.

"Yeah. Hoping this might be enough for an official pardon," she said with a sigh, looking down at her cuffed hands. "I don't know what to say to you," she admitted with a breezy little laugh. "I've met the Doctor who doesn't know me before, but I've never met the you that doesn't. It's weird."

Rose gives her an apologetic little smile. She doesn't know what to say either. "Who are you, in the future?"

"Oh, I can't tell you that." She winked. "Spoilers."

Rose grinned, for real this time. "I might have to steal that word off of you, it's brilliant. So what are you, umm….to the Doctor? His...I dunno, wife or something?"

River's face went from teasing to revolted. "No. Absolutely not. Oh, God no!" She scrunched up her face. "Just….no. That's not even where…..no. Friend."

Rose almost stepped back from the sheer volume of River's denial. "Whoa, sorry," she said, laughing now that that weight had been lifted. The Doctor had told her River wasn't that, but….she had to be sure. "Are we friends?"

River smiled again. "The best."

Something beeped on her arm and she looked down at it. "I think that's my ride. I'll see you later, Rose. When the Pandorica opens. Tell that to the Doc, would you? I'm a bit busy at the moment."

Rose laughed and waved goodbye just as River disappeared with a flash. She had called him Doc. Nobody called him Doc. Said man – the Doctor – and Donna walked up behind her. "I think I like her," Donna commented, "Nice dramatic exit."

The Doctor laughed, slinging one arm around her shoulders and the other around Rose's. "She said to tell you she'd see us at the Pandorica. When it opens. Know anything about that?"

"Oh, sure. Lots. But you see, my dear girls, the Pandorica is a fairytale," he whispered as they headed back into the TARDIS, the doors having been opened by Donna's key. "But I suppose," he drawled, dropping his arms from their shoulders and swaggering up to the console, "that pretty much everything's a fairytale before we come along and prove it wrong." The girls laughed and grabbed onto things as the ship shook and rocked beneath their feet, unsteadying them.

"I see his driving hasn't gotten any better this time 'round," Donna mumbled to Rose, who nodded her head in agreement, still laughing at just the straight fact that they were all alive. Then she remembered, and her face fell.

"We have to go and find Amanda Drury," she said quietly. The ship stopped shaking. They must've been in the Vortex. "For Bob. We promised him, we said we'd go and find Amanda Drury and tell her."

The atmosphere in the timeship sobered instantly. "Right," the Doctor said softly as he set the coordinates. "We did promise."

"How do you know where she is?" Donna asked, peering out of the window.

"Bob told us," he said. "Newport University."

"Newport in Wales?" Rose asked in surprise. "He didn't sound Welsh."

Donna's face scrunched up in confusion. "Newport still exists in the 51st century?"

The Doctor nodded as he landed the TARDIS with minimal shaking. "This is before everyone evacuated the earth, of course. Early 51st century. Changed the name a few times, but Newport came back and sort of stuck." He opened the door, taking Rose's hand as he brushed by her, and stepped outside, Donna on their heels. The sky was sort of grey and cloudy. It fit the mood of their visit rather well. The trio made their way across the small park area and up the steps of the college. It didn't look much different than any old 21st century college would look, Rose though absently. As if reading her mind, the Doctor told them, "They kept this building the way it had originally been. It's what they call vintage."

He led them around a few corners and into what looked like the main office. A robot with blue hair was behind the receptionist desk, reading some sort of magazine where the pictures moved. "May I help you?" She – it? – asked when they came up.

The Doctor slipped his psychic paper out and gave her a charming smile. "We're here to see an Amanda Drury. Message from the Queen's army."

The robot looked at them for a moment and then made a metallic swooshy sound that was probably the robot equivalent of an irritated sigh. She swung her legs off of the desk and rifled around in the drawer for a moment, eventually coming up with a thin metal thing. She tapped at the screen a few times and then read off: "Drury, Amanda. Year 2. Dorm room 441A. That's all I've got for you."

The Doctor smiled again, retracting the psychic paper. "That's lovely, thanks."

Donna and Rose followed him out of the office and as soon as they were out of her earshot – figuratively speaking, since she didn't have ears – Donna doubled over laughing. "Th….there was a robot with…..a magazine and blue hair and she…it…..she sassed you, Doctor. Did you see her little robot eyes? She rolled her eyes at you, Doctor!"

He pouted and crossed his arms, looking between the two girls, both laughing at his expense. He turned on his heel and walked down the hallway without them, headed to 441A. After they realized that he'd gone on without them, they stopped laughing immediately and ran to catch up, both becoming serious when they saw the door labeled 441A and remembered their task.

Rose stepped forward and raised her hand to the door. She hesitated for a moment and then knocked. They were all secretly hoping that Amanda didn't answer. She did. "Amanda Drury?" Rose asked quietly.

The girl at the door brushed her hair behind her ear, studying them with big and somewhat cautious brown eyes. "Yes?"

Rose opened her mouth to tell the news, but nothing came out. Donna stepped up. "It's about your…Bob. He, umm….I'm sorry," she finished lamely, her own eyes filling with tears when she caught a glimpse of the engagement ring on the girl's finger.

"Bob was killed," the Doctor spoke up from behind them. "And he wanted us to tell you. I want you to know that though I only knew him for an hour or so, it was an honor. He truly is – was the bravest person I've met in a long time. I'm sorry."

The girl was frozen at the doorway, her mouth open and her eyes even bigger. "You're lying," she whispered. "You're a sick, lying bastard! Bob isn't dead! He told me he would come back – he promised!" She was yelling. Screaming, even. She slowly sunk down to the floor, her arms rising up to cover her head, and rocked back on forth on her toes, her hands covering her ears. "It's not funny." She was crying. "I don't care who you are or why you're here but it's not funny!" She was screaming. "Bob's not dead." She was whispering.

Rose sunk down beside her and wrapped an arm around her, even though she'd never met the girl. Human comfort must've been what she needed because she gave a loud sob and threw her arms around Rose, leaning her full weight on the woman's shoulder. Rose didn't say anything, just held her and rubbed her back and tried to keep from crying herself. They sat there, on the floor, for about five minutes before she calmed down even slightly.

"He….he knew he was going to die," she told them in a raspy voice, still sitting on the floor of her doorway. "He messaged me, just before he was sent to that blasted shipwreck site and he said there was something inside and that a lot of people didn't make it out." Amanda's voice was monotonous and painful to hear and they all just listened, let her get out anything she needed to. "He promised me he would though. Said he would make it back for me. We were getting married in two months. When he got back. We'd already sent the invitations and got the church and the bridesmaids and everything. I'd already bought my dress. He said he loved me, you know. He was the first one who told me he loved me. That's what made him different, I guess. He treated me like a person and not a one-night stand that never ended. He used to cook, did you know? Soufflés. His mum taught him to make them when he was a kid and now he makes…..used to make them a lot. They were really great. He was really great. Perfect, actually."

She wasn't emotional. It was as though she had had her five minutes of destruction and this was the aftermath, the devastated silence after the hurricane. She was quiet. She was flat. She was lifeless.

"Has he got any parents we ought to tell?" Donna asked softly when it seemed apparent she would say no more. "Friends?"

"His mum. Clara. And his sister Mary. She's only eight. He's got loads of friends. His mum ought to know. His dad left after Mary turned four, taking her with him, and Bobby was left alone with his mum for three years. His dad just brought back Mary last year. He and his mum got real close during those three years, though. They were all each other had. He had me, but. Ya know, it's different than a sister and a dad. His mum and dad are back together. Mrs. Oswald says he only left because of business, but I'm not too sure I believe that. Bob seems to, though. Mary doesn't talk much. She draws. I guess she got that from watching Bob. You know he was going to major in art before he joined the army? He was a wonderful artist. Paint, pastels, pencils, markers, clay…he did it all perfectly. He….he messaged me, and he said that he'd made four drawings of me the first week he was away this time. He promised that he'd give them to me. When he got back, he promised…." her voice cracked and the tears began to fall again. Rose rubbed her shoulder comfortingly.

After about five more minutes, Amanda wiped her eyes and stood up, giving them a fake, watery smile. "I should go and tell his family. Thank you, I think." She shut the door to her dorm for the first time and walked down the hallway, her arms wound around herself and tears still dripping from her cheeks.

The trio stood there watching her for a while longer, unsure really what to do. It felt as though they'd just intruded on something entirely too personal and painful. They trudged back to the TARDIS in silence and got inside the ship in silence and set the coordinates in silence. Then there was a whining sort of noise that didn't sound good at all, and the Doctor looked up, confused. "Donna, would you go look and see if there's anything stuck on the ship outside?"

She walked over and opened the door, popping her head out to look. She didn't see anything, but –

"….keep telling you, Donna wasn't real. You need to move on with your life. Let's go down to the pub, get a drink, meet some girls maybe?"

"No, Hank." And Donna would recognize that voice anywhere. She'd been married to it, after all. Well, sort of. "She wasn't a hallucination, I promise, she was –"

"LEE!" she screamed, and he turned and from across the street their eyes met and he started running and she stepped one foot out of the TARDIS, but then it was gone. Everything was gone. She was looking at a sort of purple-ish blue color swirling all around her, and Lee was gone.

"I got it working!" the Doctor called from inside, "Turns out it was the capacita –"

Donna ran back inside, frantic. "Go back! Wherever we just were – go back to that exact moment and that exact spot right now!"

"Donna, what…?" Rose asked her, bewildered.

"Just do it!" The Doctor complied with her panicked request and as soon as the ship was fully materialized, she swung open the door and ran outside, her head spinning around madly. But he was gone. Lee wasn't there, neither was Hank. The street was empty. "Is this the same time?" she demanded, running back inside. "The exact same time?"

"1.48703 seconds after we left," the Doctor confirmed quickly, still entirely confused. He shared a look with Rose, who shrugged. "Why?"

"He's gone," she wailed. "1.40817 whatever seconds and he's gone. That's impossible!" She ran outside again, ran up and down the street, ran around the TARDIS, shouted his name in the park. Nothing. "But how does that…..augh!" She stormed back into the TARDIS, her face red with anger or pain, she wasn't yet sure. She collapsed on the jump seat and kicked off her shoes, pulling her knees up to her chest.

Rose, although she had no idea what was going on, offered Donna ice cream and a Disney movie, and the woman gladly accepted, heading down to the media room without waiting for Rose to get the ice cream from the kitchen. The Doctor sent the ship into the Vortex and then, after a moment's hesitation, decided that confused Rose was less dangerous than possibly angry Donna, and padded to the kitchen, depositing his tweed coat on the railing in the console room before he left.

"What was that about?" He asked Rose, who had taken out bowls but then decided against it, instead just grabbing two spoons and the ice cream container.

"I dunno," she said, sounding worried. "But I'm gonna find out. Did you hear what she was shouting, back in that park?"

He shook his head and dutifully followed her to the media room, but she stopped him at the door. "I think this is more of a girl talk kind of thing, Doctor. I'll fill you in later," she promised, reaching up to kiss him and then she waved her hand, shooing him. "Go fix your capacitator lever or whatever."

He smiled stupidly at her, totally dumbstruck by remembering that she had always promised to stay with him, and then turned and waked back to the console room, a stupid grin stuck on his face for the next half hour.

Rose pushed open the door to the media room and sat down on the couch beside Donna, handing her the ice cream and a spoon. "Thanks," she mumbled, pretending she was watching the film. She'd picked out Finding Nemo. A classic.

"What's happened?" Rose asked gently after a moment or so.

Donna was pretending she was fine – or trying to – but Rose could see that her lower lip was quivering and that her eyes were very wet. "I mean, nobody's died or anything, so I haven't got much right for complainin, but…it's kind of a long story, but it starts off with a library that the Doctor took me to. And there were these shadow things, right? Vashta Nirvana or something."

"Like bad shadow things?" Rose asked, just to clarify.

Donna nodded. "Anyway, to make a long story short, the shadow things err, caught me, I guess, and the little girl who was the library's computer – also a long and complicated story – put me in like this dream world with all these other people who'd been caught in her library. So I met this guy, Lee McAvoy. In the dream world, we got married, had two kids….he was really perfect, he was. And when the Doctor got everyone freed from the dream place – there were thousands of people there – I couldn't find Lee, and the Doctor said he was just a figure of my imagination, right? Well, that's what I started to think, but when I was outside, he was right there, he was so close, and then the TARDIS left and he wasn't there a second and a half later, and I just….."

"I'm so sorry," Rose said quietly, reaching over to hug her. "I dunno what else to say other than I'm sorry. We might could go and look around for him, ya'know? Go searching 'round Newport in the 51st century."

Donna took a deep, shuddering breath. "Yeah. I dunno if I could right now, though. I dunno what I would do if we never found him. I think I just….I dunno. I just need to go to bed, I s'pose."

"Yeah. Might feel more optimistic in the morning?"

"Yeah. Guess so."

They stayed up for another hour watching Nemo. And then they put in Pocahontas, which made Donna cry, so they took that out and just started watching Eastenders. They ate an entire carton of Ben&Jerry's and fell asleep on the couch with the telly still playing.

Donna woke up crying.

A/N I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK LIKE THIRTY YEARS I SEND MY SINCEREST REGRETS TO YOUR PATIENT LOVELY SELVES