Chapter Three

"Donna!"

She couldn't answer. All the breath had been knocked out of her by the fall. Whatever had grabbed her was now dragging her across the floor. She struggled to get away, but it only gripped more tightly. She heard the buzzing of the sonic, and suddenly she was released.

She looked around, dazed, and saw the Doctor holding onto the head of a robot. He looked up at her.

"You all right?"

"Yeah," she gasped. "What is that?"

"Cyberhead. Head of a cyberman. Part man, part robot."
"How'd it do that … that thing?"

"It's got a brain. A living brain. Inside here." He rapped on the Cyberman's forehead. "It wanted to use you for spare parts." He put the screwdriver away and rattled the head. "But I've disabled it now. Can't do anymore harm."

He tossed the head away, stood, and helped Donna to her feet. At that moment, they heard heavy, rhythmic footfalls. Donna, hardly daring to look, turned and saw the rest of the robot coming towards them. The Doctor grasped Donna's arm and they began to walk backward, keeping their eyes on the Cyberman. It reached over, picked up its own head, and fixed it in place on its shoulders.

"What do we do? Doctor?"

"Just stay calm, Donna. Panicking never helped anyone. Especially not against the Cybermen."

He released her hand.

"When I give the word, run."

He turned to face the Cyberman. Donna froze.

"No, Doctor! You can't do that! I won't let you!"
"Run, Donna!"

She came up beside him and took his hand, dragging him back.

"Together or not at all."

"Why does no one ever listen to me?" he asked with a groan.

The Cyberman put out its arm. The Doctor ducked underneath and pulled Donna with him, then shoved her away. She turned back just in time to see the Cyberman send out an electrical shock that enveloped the Doctor. He fell to the floor with a thud, and the robot came towards her. She looked around wildly, then started making her way around the Pandorica towards the Doctor.

"Hang on, Spaceman," she muttered.

The Cyberman advanced, and before long she was trapped against the wall. She squeezed her eyes shut, expecting to feel a metal hand on her arm. Instead, she heard a loud clank; she opened her eyes just a bit and saw that the Cyberman was still two feet away, with a sword stuck right through its middle. Then the sword was withdrawn and the robot dropped, and she saw a Roman soldier. He was old; a bit too old to be a soldier, she would have thought, but never mind about that.

"Thanks!" she said, and ran over to the Doctor.

He was just struggling to his feet.

"Ow!" he said. "Electromagnetic pulse. Never fun to be in the middle of."

"You … you are incredible," said Donna, shaking her head. "That would have killed a human."

"Exactly. Which is why I pushed you away from it. Oh, and what have we here?"

The soldier had come up behind and was waiting for them to notice him.

"Oh, he killed the Cyberman," Donna said. "Lucky for both of us. I was about done in."

The Doctor nodded.

"I think I'll go out for some fresh air, Doctor," said Donna. "And look! He's brought more soldiers with him!"

"You be careful, Donna."

"I will."

"Now!" the Doctor said. "Where's River? Wilf, would you mind sending a soldier out to keep an eye on Donna?"

He shook his sonic. "I think the fall damaged it. Ah, there! Maybe not."

Then, as if something had hit him, he turned around again. "Wilfred?"

"Yeah, it's me, Doctor. Who'd you think it was? And why didn't Donna know me? Me, her own granddad!"

"But you don't even exist. You were erased!"

"All I know is, I died, then I was here as a Roman soldier. I didn't ask any questions; it just seemed right, somehow. But what do you mean I was erased?"

"You got swallowed up by the crack. That's why Donna didn't recognize you. For her, you never existed."

Wilf's face fell. "What am I gonna do, then?"

"The question is, how did you come back? Tell me everything."

"I remember being in the cave and taking a bullet. Then there was this light all around me, and I was a Roman soldier. All these … Roman thoughts in my brain. But I could still remember my old life."

The Doctor was about to continue the conversation when River approached.

"What about those coordinates, sweetie?" she asked. "Going to check them out with me?"

"I don't have time right now," he muttered.

"I can fly the Tardis, you know."

"Oh really. Where'd you learn that?"

"From you of course." She smiled. "You can stay here, and I'll be back shortly."

The Doctor nodded. "Keep in contact."

"Always," she said, leaning in and giving him a kiss.

Donna leaned against one of the upright stones, staring out into the darkening sky. Several soldiers were milling around; she was sure the Doctor had told them to keep an eye on her. After a few minutes, the old soldier approached her.

"Hello Donna," he said.

"Oh," she replied. "Hey. Thanks for saving our lives back there."

He smiled but said nothing. They stood looking out at the stars together. After a moment, the soldier took his helmet off and stared at her until she grew uncomfortable.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Come on, Donna. Don't look at me and tell you you don't know who I am," he pleaded.

"Who are you? I've never seen you before. I've never met Romans before today. You aren't one of the ones who took us to Cleopatra, are you?"

"No, sweetheart, look at me! It's me, your old gramps. Remember?"

Donna stepped back a bit. "Oi, who're you calling sweetheart?"

"Sir!" one of the soldiers called. "Up in the sky. Look!"

Donna and the Roman looked up and saw hundreds of lights that had appeared suddenly, bright like searchlights, but obviously very far away. A moment later the Doctor had appeared beside them.

"Spaceships," he said into the communicator River had given him. "There are hundreds of them."

"I'm doing a scan," River's voice crackled back. "There appear to be … Daleks. Cybermen. Sontarans. Those are the main ones. There are others."

The Doctor paced back and forth.

"Everyone who has ever hated you, everyone you've ever defeated, is up there," said River. "What are you going to do?"

"What I always do," he replied. "Make it up as I go." It was too dark for Donna to see his face, but she could hear the smile on his face. That was her Doctor: never down for long.

"River," he said. "I'm switching to a different frequency. Good luck."

"You too, sweetie," she said, in a less flirtatious tone than she had used previously.

The Doctor stepped out into the middle of Stonehenge. Donna watched him. The light of the spaceships had come down closer and they shone on his face. He held the communicator near his mouth.

"Hello, everyone!" he said, his voice magnified by the communicator. "This is the Doctor speaking. You remember me, eh? And now you're trying to get me into the Pandorica. Well look at me! I haven't got a plan. I haven't even got my Tardis. But you're still afraid of me. And why? Because you know that time and again, I've stopped you. And I'll go on stopping you, even if you have a thousand spaceships and a thousand guns. So, quick word of advice: Let someone else get me first."

He turned towards Donna and gave her that brilliant smile of his. The lights of the spaceships began to disappear, one by one at first and then all at once. The night sky was left dark with just the twinkle of stars.

Finis

A/N - Obviously this took a lot longer than I planned. It was originally just supposed to be the Tenth Doctor doing the Pandorica speech, but I got ambitious and decided to rewrite a bit more than just that. I had fun, and I hope everyone has enjoyed it! Thanks to Shivver for encouragement and the original idea; she's got some great stuff of her own, including the Fifth Doctor at the Pandorica, so go check it out :)