A/n: Sorry it took so long after that kind of cliffhanger, got a spot of writers block. But now I'm back! (And so are some more old friends).
Steady as the Beating Drum
Chapter 5: Dreaming of White Rooms and Trusted Friends
X
The Doctor exited the Tardis, fully expecting to be just outside the London branch of Uto-tech. What he found was the fishy air of the docks of Cardiff, and an unfriendly smirk on a familiar face.
"Is it bad that I'm feelin' pretty good about how damn old you look?"
"Mickey, not the time."
"Martha Jones…" the Doctor gulped.
"That's Martha Smith to you, mate," Mickey sniped accusingly.
"Smith-Jones," growled Martha, not looking terribly thrilled. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her hip jutted out in that familiar brassy way of hers.
The Doctor held up his pointer finger and pressed his lips together, "Just a minute." He then stepped back into the Tardis and slammed the door on their noses.
"DOCTOR!" he heard Martha shriek, accompanied by banging on the door.
The Tardis growled angrily, like a car revving in neutral.
"Shut up."
Levers were pulled, dates and coordinates reset and the Doctor was on his way.
He opened the door once again, expecting London, only to be faced with Martha and Mickey- both seething.
"No."
Martha erupted. "What have you got to say for yourself?! You break the universe again and you don't even call me!" she slapped him repeatedly on the arm, "What. Is. The. Matter. With. You!?"
"Oi! You're so violent!"
"I get that way when I relive the same day THIRTEEN DAYS IN A ROW!"
"What."
"Yeah," Mickey piped up from behind his wife, "what's up with that?"
"Oh shut up Mickey," groused the Doctor, "What is going on?" he mumbled under his breath, much to Mickey's exasperation. He quickly turned tail and launched himself back onto the Tardis- the Smiths trailing behind.
X
Donna felt as if she were in a desert; dry, parched and too hot. She drifted in and out of lucidity, weaving about between comprehension and oblivion. Her head pounded as if it had been smashed with a hammer. When she opened her eyes, the room was too bright and colors blurred like a mirage on the horizon.
"Oh Donna, you're brilliant!" someone was saying. And yet she had not a single clue from which direction the voice was coming; it seemed as if it were everywhere at once.
She blinked the world's fuzziness away and found herself still in her office, but also not. It was still too bright; like morning light being let in after a hangover. Or heaven in the movies. And in the very center of the room was a glass column surrounded by bits and bobs. Inside the column something pulsed up and down to the rhythm of a heartbeat. She felt very warm.
Donna rubbed the sweat off the back of her neck and then rubbed that off on her trousers. She stood up and walked closer to the column, that upon closer inspection looked like a control desk in a space travel movie; except this one had a boot screwed heel-side down onto a lever and a beanie hat with a propeller that appeared to be bronzed.
Where am I? She tried to say out loud.
"Brilliant Donna Noble, knew I kept you around for some reason!" There was no door, but Donna had the sense that he'd entered the room right behind her, not a moment ago.
"Yeah, I'm normally a real drag," she found herself replying in a teasing manner.
She could see the man through the glass column, smile distorted wide by the refraction of light.
"Never say that, even joking!" he tutted and walked around to meet her, lovingly stroking the dashboard as he walked. "Another world saved by Smith and Noble. What will we do next?"
"Probably get into lots and lots of trouble."
The man was taller than her, but not by much. He was also obscenely skinny, with hair that stuck up in front and big brown eyes that crinkled at the edges, pulled by his enormous, manic grin. He even bounced when he walked. The man was utterly ridiculous, and yet, Donna had rarely felt more appreciation and care for a person. She could tell all that, she could recall his smile, and yet she could not really see his face properly. It was distorted somehow, like she was wearing specs with smudges, or like she was only getting bits and pieces.
Even as she thought this, Donna knew it was all a dream; that this wasn't real and neither was this strange affection. Still, it felt more real than a lot of things these days…
The man casually leaned against the console and flipped a switch.
"So, big universe out there. Where would you like to go?"
Donna could not move or speak beyond the script already set out by this strange dream, but she was not afraid. She smiled on the inside even as the dream body she inhabited did the same. "Why don't we let the Old Girl choose?"
"Alright then, go on." The skinny man with the kind smile stepped aside and gestured grandly at the column. Tardis. That's not even a proper word. But she knew it all the same.
Donna found herself stepping forward and hesitantly flicking switches and pushing buttons. She glanced up at the skinny man nervously. "Doctor…?"
"Bang on, keep going." More buttons and lights flashing and then-
She lurched off her feet, the world tilted sideways and she was falling. 'Doctor' as he was apparently called grabbed her hand and held on tight. He'd managed to grab the lever with the boot. "What did I do?" she screamed and her throat burned.
"Nothing! You didn't do anything."
"No no no no, I want to stay-!"
"Donna-"
"No, no, please. Please no."
"Donna, do you trust me?" his eyes were sad, his expression unreadable. She felt her grip on his fingers slipping. "Look at me. Donna, do you trust me?"
Calm settled over her, her body went slack. "Yeah. Yeah, Spaceman. I trust you."
"Donna Noble. I am so sorry. But we had the best of times. The best."
And then he let go.
She was pulled away, flying through a door that had suddenly opened into bright white lights. "I'll find you!" he screamed, still reaching for her. "I will fix this!"
And then a blue door slammed shut.
X
A/n: Thanks for dropping in! Reviews are always great; I'd love some feedback from whoever's out there in the void reading my silly little fic :)
Next update soon!