Friends, I know very little about architecture, and I certainly have no real idea whether there is a database like the one used in this chapter. It doesn't, however, seem outside the realm of possibility to me… anyway, if I'm wrong, please be kind. It's sci-fi after all!

Also, don't judge Donna too harshly. ;-)

THIRTEEN

Martha led Donna out of the TARDIS, into her flat, and upstairs. She found the enhanced stethoscope on the dresser, right where the Doctor had left it.

"Okay… this is the Doctor's brill idea about ducking Morton T. Hepplewhite's stolen technology?" Donna asked, holding the thing with two fingers, as though it were a dirty sock.

"It's not just a stethoscope, Donna, it's a sonicked-up stethoscope, so that it can hear stuff in another part of the building."

"Oh. Okay. How?"

"It uses ductwork and plumbing," Martha answered. Then, she took the apparatus from Donna, put in the earpieces, and went to the wall she shared with Mrs. Finley, to see what she could hear. "Okay – the TV is on. But not in the bedroom, somewhere else in the house. Take a listen."

Donna tried the earpieces, and her eyebrows raised. "Oh, I see." A pause, then, "How is it that I can tell that the TV is in a different room?"

"It's like you're standing in that room, there," Martha said, indicating the wall. "Let's see if we can find where she actually is."

Martha left the bedroom and moved down the stairs, and Donna followed. She went through the foyer, into the mudroom in the back of the flat, and moved over to the right-hand side of the room, and gestured for Donna to try the stethoscope here.

Donna did, and her face lit up. "Oh, yeah! There she is! She's humming."

Martha whispered (probably needlessly), "But, if you use the ducts…" and then gestured to the floor, where a vent was situated right next to the wall.

Donna crouched, and tried again, pressing the auscultator to the vent. "All I can hear is rushing air," she said. Then, she moved the thing three inches to the right, and pressed it to the floor, immediately beside the vent. She said, "No… I can hear her humming and I can hear the TV, but there's a big reverb."

"How do you mean?" Donna handed off the stethoscope to Martha, who tried it, and understood. "Whoa, it's like she's standing a shower the size of the Grand Canyon."

"Doesn't it?" Donna asked. "So… what? We'll have to use the plumbing?"

"Seems like it," Martha said, handing the device back to her. "There are pipes behind the washing machine, but until Mrs. Finley gets near her own pipes, I don't know if you'll hear much."

Donna pressed the auscultator to the wall behind the washing machine, directly above where she could see pipes connecting to the appliance."

"Okay, that's much better. I can tell that she's watching Emmerdale Farm – she must have recorded it," she said. "Oh wait! The humming is getting louder…"

After a few seconds, Donna could hear water running, and said so.

"Is she in the kitchen?" Martha asked.

"I think so," said Donna. "Sounds like she's making tea… she's just turned off the water, and now I can hear her replacing the top of the kettle. She's got one of those old metal ones that sits on the stove - bless! Keeps her teabags in a drawer. Wow! All this, just because she's got closer to the plumbing?"

"Yep!"

"Wow!"

Martha smiled, and watched Donna delightedly spy on the neighbour for another minute or so, then teased, "Well, I can see you've got your entertainment laid out for you, for the day."

Donna stood up and removed the stethoscope. "This is cool. I take back my sarcastic comment about the Doctor's brill idea. I should've known he'd have something slick up his sleeve."

"Yep," Martha said, turning to walk out of the mud room, and into the kitchen. "But he and I thought it would be a good idea to get hold of the blue prints for the building, so we know exactly where the pipes go, and what kind of interference there might be."

"How do we do that?"

"We'll try online," Martha sighed. "All of the municipal places that store those sorts of things will be closed over the weekend, yeah?"

"I should think," Donna agreed.

"Let's just Google it," Martha said, heading toward the table and chair beside the kitchen window. Donna sat down across from her, and they fired up the laptop. Martha turned it sideways, so that they could both see, and pulled up the Google search page.

Then her shoulders fell.

"What?" asked Donna.

"Did he ever tell you where this place was?"

"No."

"Mention an address? Even a neighbourhood, maybe while I was at work?"

"No!" Donna exclaimed, realising the predicament they were now in.

"How are we going to get the blue prints for a building that we can't name nor locate?"

"I've no idea!" Donna responded, throwing her arms up.

"Great," Martha sighed. "So, we've got an important meeting on Monday morning that may or may not be life or death for this planet, and the only guy who knows where the meeting is, can't be reached until after the meeting."

"Well, shit."

Martha shut her eyes, and took a deep breath. "Okay, what do we know about the building? I think he said it was only a ground floor and a first floor."

"And he said it was out in the suburbs someplace."

"Right. And the entire first floor has glass walls."

"The ladies' loo is underneath the conference room."

"I think there's a good chance that there's no lift – it seems like he mentioned an open staircase?"

"Okay."

The two of them sat, and tried to think of other characteristics that could help them, but eventually, Martha opened her eyes and said, "This isn't helping."

"Nope."

They were quiet again for a few moments, then Martha said, "Do you suppose an architect might know how to narrow the search?"

"Well, we can ask one, I suppose."

Within fifteen minutes, Colin Brownhill was knocking on his cousin's front door, carrying a leather messenger bag.

"Hi there," Martha said. "Seeing you twice in two days is quite the treat."

"I know!" he exclaimed, kissing her cheek. "After all that time we didn't talk, and then, poof! Is it synchronicity that you happen to need my help today?"

Donna turned up in the doorway between the foyer and the kitchen just then.

In spite of herself, she had, since Martha had phoned him, taken her hair out of the haystack pile that had been on her head, put on a spot of makeup, and changed into an outfit that made her look like she wasn't trying too hard – cool, calm and carefree. And of course, thin.

"Hi Colin," she said, calmly. "Care for a cup of tea?"

"Of course," he said, moving toward her.

She led him into the kitchen. "Earl Grey with lemon?"

"You remembered."

"Mind like a steel trap," she joked, gesturing to the breakfast bar, where she'd prepared a pot of Earl Grey beside a cup and saucer. "Besides, remembering how people take their tea... part of my job."

"Where's John?" asked Colin, taking a seat.

"He's… out," Martha said, trying to sound nonchalant, while her stomach sank with the reminder. "Cricket club."

She regretted it as soon as it was out of her mouth, because Colin then said, "Ah! A Cricket man, eh? He and I will have to get to know each other much, much better, then! Been a long while since I've had someone I could Cricket about with. Is he in one of the amateur city leagues?"

"No, no, just… the hospital admin, they have their own thing they do, just on the week-ends. Sometimes."

The three of them made small talk about the tea for a few minutes (well, actually just Donna and Colin made small talk), and then he took a sip and said, "So, you ladies are trying to find a building?"

"Yeah," Martha said, uncomfortably. "In a nutshell."

"What does that even mean? Find a building?"

"Well, I've got a temp job at a particular place on Monday morning, and I never caught the address. And since all the temp offices are closed over the week-end…" Donna offered.

Martha thought it was a pretty good cover story, though she hated the fact that they both had to lie to Colin.

"So… how do you think I can help?" asked Colin asked Donna. "I mean, you asked if I knew of a database…"

"I know a few things about the building," Donna said. "Some of those things might be architectural features, that could be accessed via a database… if there is one."

"There is one. Hang on." He reached down to the floor and pulled up his messenger bag, and extracted a laptop. "You've got to have a particular programme on your computer in order to access it… just give it a second… ugh, it's updating."

So, they all waited.

Eventually, Colin sat up straight, and said, "All right. Shoot."

Donna then named off all the things she knew about the building in question.

"Okay…" Colin said, and then he seemed to kit the enter key, with flourish. "It's thinking. How do you know all this stuff about the building, if you don't know where it is?"

"I had a one-off job there, a long, long time ago… like right when I started temping," she answered, lying rather easily. "The owner and I remembered each other on the phone, so I just said, sure, I remember, I'll be there! Only this morning, I realised, I have memories of the interior, but remember nothing about the neighbourhood or how to get there…"

"I see," Colin said, his eyes shifting down to the screen.

Martha and Donna took that moment to look at each other with worry. Neither could tell whether he was believing any of this.

Though, at worst, Martha reckoned, he might think that it was a ruse for Donna to have him come round. He would not be imagining that they were up to anything else.

Results had come up on the screen, and Colin told them the suburban address, which Martha very quickly jotted down.

"Built in 1978. One open staircase, ground floor and first floor only. In 2002, the first floor was gutted, and all the walls were replaced with glass. It appears to be the only office building of any sort within about fifteen kilometres – everything else is homes or retail. And, it's licenced to a shell company."

"Well, that stands to reason," Donna muttered.

"Why so?"

She chuckled. "It just does… I mean, isn't everything licenced to a shell company in the end?"

Martha was dying to see whether she could get the blue prints, now she had the address, but she didn't want to drag her cousin any further into this weirdness, nor take Donna's attention away from him. She quietly shifted into the parlour and pretended to organise her roll-top desk, while Donna and Colin chatted each other up. She could still hear them, but rather wished that she couldn't.

Just as she was about to retire to the bedroom upstairs with the door shut and music on, she heard her cousin ask, "So… may I assume that since you brought me over here just to find a building, that you have changed your mind about my offer for tonight? French food, and Silent Light?"

Donna actually took a pause here, and Martha wondered if she was feigning the let me think about it moment, or whether she was actually thinking about her self-effacing "pattern" with men, and all the stuff she'd said to Martha a couple of hours ago in the TARDIS.

In any case, Donna said, "Well, I suppose since you helped me out today…"

"Wonderful!" Colin exclaimed, and Martha could hear the barstool move hastily away from the counter, as though he'd stood up and nudged it. "I'll be back here at seven to collect you."

"All right, but listen," Donna said. "I'm not really into artsy films – I'm not as intellectual as all that."

"Well, then, we'll see something at the Hollywood Cinema in my neighbourhood. Or go bowling. Or something else – I don't care! We'll play it by ear. I just want to spend the evening with you, okay?"

"Okay," Donna said, sheepishly.

"Okay. Well, I'd better go, then… I've got a few things to do before our date," he said. Then he called out, "Bye Martha!"

She met him in the foyer, and said her goodbyes, and Colin saw himself out.

The two women's eyes met across the space. Martha must not have been hiding her thoughts as well as she'd thought, because Donna said, "What? It's just to say thanks for your help."

"One trip out... just to say thanks?"

"Maybe."

"That sounds bloody familiar." Martha muttered, cynically. "Donna, what about your pattern?"

"I'm going to try and steer him away from the cinema, or anything where we're sitting close together in the dark, all right? And I fully planning on going Dutch for dinner."

"That's your idea of putting the brakes on an unhealthy habit?"

"What's your game, eh?" Donna asked, face scrunching up. "What happened to, Colin is worth a stab at happily ever after?"

"I still believe that," Martha told her. "But Donna, if you're going to go out on this date, and then try to keep him at arm's length, you need to tell him why."

"Arm's length?"

"Yeah. Steering him away from the dark. Going Dutch. Flirting like a maniac, then acting like it's just a thank you date. The Doctor did that sort of rubbish to me in the first year, and it almost crushed me."

"I know what I'm doing, Martha," Donna assured her, half condescendingly.

Martha ploughed ahead, though. "If you're going to keep true to what you said to me earlier, and try and keep yourself from rushing in, let him know that. Just tell him you want to go slow. Tell him you've been depressed because…" Martha stopped then, and swallowed hard. "Because you've been in close quarters with me and the Doctor, and that you're afraid of…what was the phrase you used? Grasping at straws? Doing anything, just so you don't have to be alone."

"Fine, I'll tell him all my deepest darkest secrets, shall I?"

"I'm saying, don't just play stupid games with him. He's not like me. He's a lot more sensitive, and he'll shut you out, a lot sooner than you'll be prepared for."

Colin knocked on the door again at seven, sharp.

Donna had been upstairs, borrowing Martha's en-suite bathroom, for the purposes of primping. She came down the stairs in a new, royal purple v-neck dress, perfect, bulky, bold ringlets in her hair, and smoky, cat-like makeup. She looked nothing like a woman who was about to go out on a simple thank you excursion.

Donna let Colin into the house, and he too looked as though he were heartily interested in this date.

Upon entering, he made over Donna as though she were gold. Then, he bade hello to Martha, who was sitting on the sofa in work-out shorts and an oversized tee-shirt (which Donna knew was the Doctor's, and that it hadn't been washed since he'd worn it), watching television with a container of Chinese food on her lap.

"We're off, then," Donna said, with no hint of the irritation she'd been showing earlier. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, you're looking rather… comfy for a Saturday night," Colin commented. "Don't tell me John is still out playing Cricket."

"He loves the sport," Martha said, weakly. "He does the full-day thing."

"That doesn't seem right," Colin said. "He's got a beautiful woman at home, and…"

"Colin, don't worry about it," Martha interrupted, now sounding exhausted. "It's fine. It's not what it looks like. This isn't how I spend my Saturday nights, typically, okay?"

"She's telling the truth, Colin," Donna explained. "John is absolutely not that guy. He doesn't play Cricket at the expense of everything else. In fact, he's…"

"Donna," Martha said, interrupting again, afraid that Donna might say too much. "You don't have to do that. Just go on your date. Have fun."

"Seriously, you're okay?"

"I'm fine. Just… looking forward to Monday."

"Me too," Donna said, taking her hand and squeezing it. "Good night, love."

Feelings of dread came over her, as Martha waved Donna and Colin out the door

At first, she thought it was just that the tables had turned a bit; Donna was off on a thrilling hot date, and Martha was home alone, despondent, wondering.

But it wasn't that. Being alone when others were out playing, this wasn't the sort of thing that would bother Martha Jones.

Was it because she was genuinely afraid that Donna might play games with Colin's heart, in spite of the fact that she was clearly smitten with him?

Well, not really. Martha thought that this was a possibility, but she ultimately thought that Donna was far too clever to let that happen. And far too nice.

She realised, with a measure of shame, that she was apprehensive about Donna now having "somewhere to go." That is to say, she now had something to stay on Earth for, other than her granddad.

She now had something that might prevent her from changing her mind about leaving the TARDIS, and to Martha, that was the most nerve-wracking part of all of this.

Okay, I'm sure you're having some thoughts about Donna right now... why not share them with me? Thank you for reading!