Author's Note: Portents abound! Oh angsty angst, why can't you leave the poor Doctor alone? Peace is ever fleeting it seems... I actually wrote the last part of this chapter listening to the music from the series 9 episode Heaven Sent. It seemed to fit the mood perfectly. My poor poor Doctor...
As always, much love to dm1 and bmg for all their tireless support even through all my incoherent ramblings...
The fire was burning low in the grate as the final scenes of Return of the Jedi flashed on the television; the music swelling to its triumphant crescendo before the end credits finally began to scroll across the screen.
The Doctor let the credits continue to roll as he looked down at the woman who was snuggled contentedly against him, her eyes were half closed and a soft smile was dancing around the corners of her lips. He could tell though, by the furor of her thoughts that she was far from relaxed and that the posture was a deceptively casual one.
Donna had been unusually quiet throughout the films, which was strange in and of itself, but she had devoted herself to watching it completely because she knew how much the science fiction trilogy meant to him.
The table before them was littered with the detritus of various snacking binges that would accompany nearly eight hours of movie watching; a tub of half eaten popcorn, several empty sundae bowls and other wrappers that had been tossed aside rather than placed in a rubbish bin. The Doctor had proven once more that he could not sit still for too long and so rather than disturb her by pausing the movie, he had gone to the Tardis kitchen several times in order to keep the drinks and snacks flowing. Now that the series was over, he found he was eager and somewhat worried about what she might think of it.
His fingers threaded lightly through her hair, the motion causing her eyes to slide closed with a brief sigh of pleasure before they snapped back open and she raised her gaze to lock with his. "She snogged her brother?"
Out of all the questions he had been expecting from Donna, that one had been the furthest from his mind and caused him to pause with his mouth wide open while he frantically tried to follow her train of thought. "I'm sorry, what?"
She pushed out of his lap and just shook her head before reaching for the remote, her fingers pressing the stop button so that the music that he had insisted on cranking too loud finally fell into blessed silence. "She finds out he's her brother and rather than be grossed out that she had all but made out with him on that ice planet, wherever it was, she acts like nothing is out of the ordinary when he lets her in on the big secret?"
The Doctor shook his head with a soft chuckle, finding it hard to believe that that had been the sticking point for her rather than the gaping plot holes that he had to admit peppered the trilogy. He stretched lightly before he responded. "Hoth. That ice planet was called Hoth. And they didn't know that they were related when she DID snog him, besides she only did that to get Han to admit that he had feelings for her."
Donna snorted, her eyes flashing to his before she reached out and began to tidy the mess that they had made in their new room. "That's something else too. What kind of response is 'I know' to a woman telling you that she loves you? It was utter rubbish I tell you!" She decided not to comment on the fact that this Han Solo character seemed just as rubbish in dealing with his feelings as a certain Time Lord. She smiled softly when she realized that he had come such a long way from when they had first met on that wretched day so long ago, but there was still a long way to go.
The Doctor gaped at her, his fanboy hearts stuttering at her derision causing him to indignantly splutter. "Because that's what Han did! He's a smuggler, a player and he had to be suave when he was possibly facing his own death. You don't exactly get all mushy when Darth Vader is about to freeze you in carbonite!"
"How do you know that, Doctor? Have you met him?"
The Doctor stopped dead, the look on his face was utterly comical as his mouth opened and closed several times before he finally managed to grumble. "No, I haven't met Darth Vader! He's a purely fictional character in a galaxy far, far away! Besides, what does that have to with Han being suave?"
Donna could barely keep her laughter contained at his affronted sensibilities, one finger rising to lightly stroke one of his sideburns before the outraged expression on his face finally made her let the grin slip free. "Han had to be suave, did he? Is that what we're calling it these days?"
The Doctor blinked owlishly at her, fairly certain that there was a point that she was trying to make with that comment but for once his genius Time Lord brain couldn't figure it out. He replayed their entire conversation in his head once again trying to figure out just where it had gone wrong, but decided that continuing down the Han Solo tangent was probably not the best course of action. So he decided to play it safe and simply state. "Weelll.. The trilogy was an epic story of the battle of good versus evil. The story of how no person is so lost as to never be able to find their way back to the light. It's about how a father's love for his son overcomes everything in the end and how that love can topple empires. It was hardly rubbish!"
Donna laughed; a soft, sultry laugh that made the Doctor pause before he turned to see the tender look in her eyes. "Sounds like someone else I know, doesn't it, Doctor?"
He paused with an empty sundae bowl in his hand, his eyes locking with hers when he realized that she had just been teasing him about his obvious love for the campy trilogy. She had completely grasped the underlying tones of the story arc and innately understood just how those threads of redemption would have hit so close to home for him. He felt his hand begin to shake when he saw the soft understanding in her eyes, the gentle stroke of her thoughts over his was almost his undoing as he set the bowl aside before it fell from suddenly nerveless fingers.
"Oh Spaceman, trust me I get it, probably more than you thought I would. I get why it means so much to you, and yes I agree whole heartedly." Her hands reached up to gently cup his cheek, her fingers sliding back into his tousled hair to pull him close for a moment so that she could rest her forehead lightly against his.
The Doctor gasped when she pulled him close, his eyes sliding closed at the comfort of feeling her acceptance once more wash over him. It was moments like these that he held clutched tightly to his hearts; these perfect, silent moments in time when everything seemed to slow down until it felt that the universe breathed in perfect unison with them. Everything had changed the day that she had appeared in his Tardis and it was only now that he was finally able to appreciate just how she had changed his life for the better.
His breath stuttered in his chest when her fingers slid down over his cheeks and she peppered his lips with tender kisses. "No man is so lost that he can never be found again, Doctor. No man so broken that he can't be healed by love."
The Doctor just melted against her for a single heart stopping moment, his mind reeling as, once again, he marveled that he had been allowed to finally make peace with one of the bigger mistakes in his life. He held Donna close to him, his eyes clenched tightly shut because he knew that she was talking about far more than the movies they had just finished watching.
He often used witticisms and blistering humor to deflect attention from the pain that had been such a constant in his life, but he found that he couldn't do that with Donna. She wouldn't allow him to hide away from his feelings for too long anyways; sometimes just when he thought he had her figured out, she would once more stand him on his head.
She held him tightly for a moment more, her fingers stroking the nape of his neck before she pulled back with a light laugh. "Come on, Timeboy. This room won't clean itself up! Let's start as we mean to continue."
He gaped at her when she thrust several bowls into his hands, his eyebrows rising nearly to his hairline before he could formulate a response. "But Donna, the Tardis is perfectly capable of cleaning this mess up. After all, she's been looking after me for centuries!"
The responding huff from the ship was unmistakable as was the blast of cold air that seemed intent on leveling the Doctor back against the couch. He looked up at the wall, his face the perfect expression of innocent confusion as he mumbled. "You never complained about it before!"
Donna chortled softly at the rapid stream of thought in response to THAT piece of idiocy, before she fixed the Doctor with a particularly fierce glare that had him huffing once again. "It's not like you gave her much choice in the past, Doctor. If she hadn't cleaned up after you, you most likely would've been up to your eyeballs in god knows what within three regenerations."
She rose to her feet and resolutely began to make her way back to the kitchen, the smile still lurking about her lips when she felt the Doctor fall into reluctant step behind her. "How come she tells you this now and never once mentioned it to me in the past?"
Donna rolled her eyes at that question, the response was fairly obvious to her but it seemed like the ship hadn't really wanted to upset him by commenting on his housekeeping habits in the past. "I don't know why, Doctor. You know that the ship and I have already developed something of a bond on our own even before this pilot's thing, maybe it was just because we're two girls coming together to gossip about the only bloke around?"
She couldn't help the laugh that burst through her lips when she felt the horror that accompanied her little revelation, his footsteps stopping dead in the hallway before he muttered. "I knew it! You two ARE ganging up on me!"
Donna was standing by the dishwasher when the Doctor finally stomped into the kitchen, his face was such the perfect picture of wounded pride that she couldn't help but lightly tease. "Hardly ganging up on you, but yes, sometimes we do need someone else to vent to when you get into one of your more… frustrating moods." He gawped uselessly at her while she took the empty bowls from his hands, loading them into the dishwasher and closing the door before she pressed the button to start the wash cycle. "I'm sure that you would rather I vent to the Tardis then to Martha, wouldn't you?"
The Doctor's jaw snapped shut at that question, his hands rising to straighten the tie that he had forgotten he was no longer wearing before he grumbled. "Quite right, I suppose. Rassilon knows that Martha has enough dirt on me without you giving her any more ammunition."
Donna just laughed at his discomfiture which was only increased when she pressed herself against him with a throaty purr, her fingers sliding into the open collar of his shirt so she could lightly play with his prominent collarbone before she pulled him down for a toe curling kiss. "Don't worry, Doctor. As always, your secrets are safe with me."
The huff of wounded pride melted in to warm appreciation as the Doctor's arms slid around her waist without hesitation, his hands splayed over her hips so that he could pull her flush against him. "They've always been safe with you, Donna. My best friend in the entire universe." He schmoozed before nuzzling into the tender skin at the nape of her neck; his lips parting to press hot, open-mouthed kisses to the fragrant flesh that he found there.
Donna's head fell back, her eyes sliding closed with a soft sigh as once again he was able to thoroughly distract her with just a few well-placed nibbles. She frankly had been surprised that he had behaved as much as he had during the movie marathon, and she knew it was only a matter of time before he shrugged off even that minimal restraint.
It's like he was trying to make up for centuries of abstinence in just a few short months, not that she was complaining mind you! Oh she would never do that, but it was still somewhat overwhelming to be the total focus of any man's amorous desires, never mind that that man just happened to also be the Doctor!
Her arms slid around his shoulders, fingers giving in to their urge to dive into that wonderfully wild mane of his so that she could pull his body even closer to hers. Rational thought was rapidly fading away as those lips travelled lower along her collarbone; the nibbling of perfect, white teeth causing her heart to pound in sweet, languorous anticipation of what was to come.
The Doctor growled softly when he felt the Tardis nudging his thoughts, her prodding becoming more insistent when it seemed the Doctor had every intention of ignoring his meddling ship in order to continue his exploration of Donna's delectable body.
Donna's fingers were gripped tightly in his hair, but her eyes were wide open when she felt the rumble of frustration against her neck. The Doctor was holding her close, mulishly ignoring his ship so that he could continue his sensuous plunder. "Doctor? I don't think she would bother us unless it was important."
She could barely stifle the giggle when she felt the sigh that seemed to boil from the tips of his toes all the way to the top of his head; his fingers tightening against her hips momentarily before he pulled away and ran his hands through his hair with a scowl of frustration. "She's getting too used to interrupting us, Donna. I think she's coming to think of it as a game."
Donna burst out laughing when she felt the response from the Tardis, the ship loftily telling him in no uncertain terms that she would never dream of interrupting them if there wasn't a good reason.
The Doctor and Donna both jumped when they heard a very distinct knocking on the outer doors of the Tardis.
"It looks like that good reason just came knocking, doesn't it, Doctor?" Donna looked to him with a raised brow, her hand extended towards the control room so that they could see just who had come to visit.
The Doctor merely growled in response to the very smug I told you so, that flitted through his mind from the Tardis before she pulled back in order to let the Doctor focus more fully on his surroundings.
Donna reached up to smooth her hair and clothing back into place, her hands deftly twisting her hair back into a loose ponytail before she followed him down the corridor and into the control room where the doors were still standing open to their room on Bellatrix.
The artisan, Largana, stood just outside the temporal field of the Tardis, nervously clutching a long parcel in her hands as she looked into the strange blue box that seemed to hide such size within its depths. She had tried knocking several times on their door but they had not responded and she knew that they had not gone out in several days. She had not been able to sense their energy behind the walls, though she had sensed the firestorm that was the strange craft in front of her. Her hand had tingled when she had knocked on the blue walls, the contact had caused her to jump in alarm and hastily juggle the parcel in her arms when that tingling had raced up her arm before melting away.
Nishtano stood just behind her with a slightly rueful expression on his face as he saw the Doctor and Donna making their way from the depths of his Tardis before pausing just within the doors. "Please forgive us, Doctor. Largana has something that she has wanted to give to the both of you for a few days and she was worried that you would leave before she had the chance."
The Doctor smiled softly towards the diminutive artisan, his eyes dancing with mischief as he responded. "It's no bother, Nish. I'm just sorry that we didn't hear your knocking."
The Doctor took a deep breath before stepping from his ship and back onto their world, his eyes sliding closed as his connection with the Nexus exploded into being once more. Nishtano averted his eyes when the Doctor shuddered upon feeling his connection with the Nexus snap back into existence, but Largana was staring at his reaction with wide mouthed wonder. She had never been off world before, and she only just realized that the craft that the Doctor had stepped from somehow shielded him from the energy fields that had been an integral part of her life since before birth.
"You do not feel the nexus within your craft, Doctor?"
The Doctor reached back to hold on to Donna's hand as she stepped back onto Bellatrix, her eyes widening and her mind briefly reeling with the intensity of the planet's welcome before she shook her head and was able to focus once more on the duo in front of her. Her fingers were trembling within the Doctor's grasp, her mind shifting as those dormant pathways blazed to life in order to deal with the influx of information. Largana and Nishtano were suddenly once more luminous beings of gentle power, their softly glowing auras swirling through their bodies in a rhythm that she found utterly soothing.
The Doctor turned back to Largana when he felt the maelstrom settle within Donna's mind, the brief overload she had felt was quickly dealt with and she was able to stand proudly at his side. "The Tardis projects her own temporal field, Largana. She is sentient; a living being as well that is connected with the Nexus just as you and Nishtano are connected."
Largana gasped when she heard the Doctor's words, her eyes widening at the sudden flaring pulse of energy that seemed to flow off the ship before it was absorbed by the energy fields around it. She could almost see the infinite lines of possibility swirling around the ship, lines that were connected deeply with the Time Lord and the woman at his side. She felt herself being sucked into the energy surrounding the ship; the beautifully intricate timelines flaring off into unimaginable dimensions, beckoning her to fall deeper and deeper into its beautiful dance.
It was like staring into the face of eternity, of all eternities, and she found that she wanted to dive headlong into the frenzied rush of improbability. Her hand reached out towards the walls of the Tardis, her fingers quivering in anticipation of that tingling touch once more just so she could get closer to that infinite fire but she jumped when her hand was suddenly clasped tightly within the Doctor's cool grasp. "Come back to us, Largana. You can lose yourself if you look too deeply into the timelines of the Tardis."
The Doctor was holding tight to the mystified artist; her eyes were shining with the beauty that she saw before she was able to blink in confusion up at the Doctor. "I've never seen anything like it, Doctor. It's amazing. So much possibility, so much beauty in such an unassuming shape. I felt like I was about to fall off the edge of oblivion and I suddenly didn't care if there was even anything below that could catch me."
His smile seemed to warm the depths of those dark, eternal eyes; the emotions that raced across his face were so fleeting she would have missed them completely if she hadn't been studying him in such fierce detail. "She exists in more dimensions then you can imagine, her consciousness is so vast it could easily swallow you up and you would never even know that you had become lost."
The Doctor's eyes slid closed for a brief, luxurious moment; his breath stuttering as a filament seemed to stretch out from the maelstrom that surrounded the Tardis, stroking gently along the Doctor and Donna's energy before diving deep into both and vanishing from her sight. Her eyes widened at that sight, thoughts capering madly before she was able to finally fit all the pieces together. "You're all connected together, the three of you, in a bond unlike anything I've ever seen before." There were tears standing in her eyes at the utter perfection of the union she could see between the three of them; her lips were quivering as she pulled her hand from the Doctor's grasp and used it to clutch the parcel she carried tightly to her chest. "Why don't you fear it, Doctor? Why does it not swallow the both of you up as well?"
"It was the way of my people, Largana. The Tardis is the last of her kind, as I am the last of my kind. We're bound together in a union that is many centuries old and only grows deeper with each passing year." He smiled first to Donna than back to his ship, his eyes filled with all the emotion that he could never properly put into words. "She protects us, but she also needs us as much as we need her. She chose me many centuries ago on Gallifrey, to save her from an early end and we've been together ever since."
Donna smiled softly towards the Doctor, though she was shaken by what had just occurred and she could tell that Nishtano was slightly unsettled as well though he had not been surprised by the sight of the Tardis. He was obviously used to the wildly chaotic dance of the sentient ship, but he had not been prepared for what the sight of it would do to such a gifted artist as Largana.
She was happy to see that Largana was gathering herself together once again; her eyes tearing away from the Tardis and focusing once more on them though her gaze did still occasionally drift back to the ship.
Donna knew her eyes shining with all that she felt when she had heard Largana suddenly include her in the bond with the Tardis. She could barely contain the surge of warmth when she realized that their bond was now visible to anyone who knew how to look.
The Doctor merely grasped her hand and squeezed in response to the warm glow he felt in her thoughts before he focused all his attention on the awestruck artist.
He could see Largana was mulling over what he was saying, her eyes tracing the lines of energy that he knew were snapping around the three of them and he could tell almost to the second when inspiration struck her. Her hands were trembling when she held out the long parcel to him, her eyes were shining with emotion as she was overcome with the beauty before her.
"When I had first met you and Donna, Doctor, I was inspired to create something for the both of you to symbolize the bond that I could clearly see between the two of you. I'm just sorry that I was not aware of the magnificent bond that you also shared with your ship… your Tardis, otherwise I would have depicted that as well. Please accept my humble offering, Doctor."
The Doctor took the proffered parcel, his hands tightening on the package before he bowed softly in acceptance of the gift. "I thank you, Largana. It gives me great pleasure to know that we've been able to inspire you in some small way."
Donna beamed at the nervous artist, bowing to her as well before she reached out to take the parcel from the Doctor's hands. "Your art is truly stunning, Largana. I'm just happy that we were able to share in it at all."
The Doctor's fingers fiddled with the twine that was holding the box closed, his eyes rising to lock with Donna's before he nodded and together they ripped the delicate bow apart and opened the package.
Nestled within the soft wrapping were two long slender vases, one of a fiery red and the other of the deepest blue, their long necks were wrapped gently around each other so they were nested together until it seemed as if they were a single piece.
Donna gasped when she saw the fire that was flaring within the depths of each vase, the delicate lines of power were shimmering deep within before shooting upwards through the glass in delicate swirls. The energy flickered off the lip of the vases before dissipating into the air around them, but it was the pulse of that energy that caused her to pause. It seemed to beat with the rhythm of a heartbeat, glowing stronger before fading away only to pulse back to life stronger than before. She lifted shocked eyes to the Doctor's, his own lips were parted with surprise when he stared at the beautiful sculpture that had been nestled within the seemingly nondescript parcel. He traced a shaking finger along one of the burning lines of energy, his lip held between his teeth when he felt the living force of the glass shiver across his nerves before it faded away once more.
"Largana, this is stunning. I've never seen anything like it." The Doctor reverently whispered as he lifted the mated vases from their wrapping and walked over to the low table so that he could set them down in order to better admire them. He barely noticed the pleased rippling of Largana's fur, her soft sigh of relief that her gift had been so readily accepted was enough to cause her to begin to babble in response.
"These are traditional mating vases, Doctor. The two are completely separate but in the final firing of the glass they are merged together, one of fire and one of ice, two halves to a whole bound together through time."
The Doctor looked up at the sound of her voice, something in her words causing him to pause before he whispered. "Bound together through time?"
She nodded, completely oblivious to the undercurrent in the Doctor's tone, but Nishtano heard it and was suddenly, instantly aware that something had triggered a thought for the Doctor. "Yes indeed, Doctor. Your bond with Donna is plain for any of our people to see and it's a rare joy to be able to see a mating such as yours. It's a bond that can stand up to the rigors of striding through time hand in hand, equals on a journey that has only just truly begun."
Donna came up beside the Doctor, her hand rising to rest on his shoulder when she felt the sudden flare of his thoughts at the artist's words. His jaw was flexing while he thought on what Largana had said, the words that were suddenly eerily similar to the Ood's when they had spoken of the new reality that had been formed aboard the Master's ship. She could tell that he was troubled by the echoes of prophecy in Largana's statement, though the artist was simply speaking in regards to the beauty that she could see when she looked at the both of them.
The Doctor was suddenly very uncomfortable with the strange resonance that he felt; his mind was spinning in a thousand directions and his hearts began to pound when he realized that their time of quiet enjoyment was most likely going to come to a sudden and possibly violent end.
"Doctor, are you alright?" Nishtano's voice was concerned when the silence had stretched almost uncomfortably long after Largana had quieted down; her gaze flitted back and forth between the Doctor and Donna when she noticed a slight shadow pass through their auras. She wasn't sure what she had said, but the Doctor had gone from happy and bubbly to quiet and introspective in the blink of an eye and it was a change that was profound enough to affect the energy between him and his mate.
"Have I spoken out of turn, Doctor?" Largana's voice trembled with emotion when she thought that she may have been the cause of some sort of distress to the Doctor; she had only meant to speak to them of the beauty that she could see around them and she had not thought how her words would affect one such as the Time Lord.
He had time running through his veins, his footsteps were the steps of a giant that had such a far reaching affect that his actions had even had an effect on their world. She knew of the stories of the Doctor and how he had saved their planet from the Red Carnivorous Maw, but that had been several years before she had been born and even then it was the stuff of legends. She was an incredibly gifted artist and had ascended to her position at an incredibly young age due to that talent; however, she knew that she was still incredibly naïve in some ways, especially when it came to dealing with such a unique offworlder as the Doctor.
The Doctor looked up at Largana, his gaze softening when he saw the very real distress in the young artist's eyes. "No, Largana, you have not spoken out of turn." It seemed like a veil had fallen over his eyes, the shadow that had filtered through his aura fading away like so much smoke until once again both he and Donna were shining brilliantly to her eyes. "Forgive me, your words just reminded me of something that I was told a little while ago. It's a puzzle that I'm still trying to solve."
Largana breathed a huge sigh of relief, her hands clutched to her chest as she responded. "Thank you, Doctor. I'm sorry once again if anything I have said caused you any undue stress, that was never my intention."
Donna reached out to touch Largana's hands lightly, her mind concentrating for a moment to let her aura brush against the young Bellatraxian's in a gentle caress so that she would know that all was forgiven and truly there was no need to worry. "Thank you for the wonderful gift, Largana. I know just the perfect spot for it, and I think that the Tardis will make sure its energy is always visible to us no matter where we may travel."
The Doctor smiled up at Donna as with just a few words she had managed to put both Largana and Nishtano at ease, though he could tell that his old friend knew that he was not being completely truthful. Nishtano merely nodded to the Doctor in response, his eyes sad that once more the Doctor's time of peace seemed to be coming to an end.
There was another knock on the door of their rooms, this knock however was not the timid knock that had echoed through the Tardis. It was firm and authoritative, as if the being knocking expected nothing less than an immediate reply.
The Doctor jumped slightly when he heard that knock, his eyes flicking to the door momentarily where he could just make out the swirling energy of three shapes that stood on the other side of the door. He rose to his feet with a soft frown, his gaze drifting to Nishtano before he asked. "Were you expecting anyone else, Nish?"
Nishtano shook his head, surprised that anyone would disturb the Doctor in his rooms but his response was quelled when the Doctor bounded across the room and pulled the door open. Nishtano could only gasp when he saw who stood on the other side of the threshold.
The Doctor leaned back slightly, though he wasn't surprised to be met with three black pelted augers who stood on the other side of the opened doors. The middle auger had gray streaking through her fur, her fingers were constantly moving at her side and her white, sightless eyes seemed to stare straight through the Doctor.
"I was wondering when you would be visiting." The Doctor gestured for the three augers to step into his room, not allowing himself to be fooled for a moment that the head auger couldn't read his energy better than her sighted counterparts. He hadn't met with any of the chief augers on his last visits, though he had enjoyed debates and visits with the younger acolytes. It seemed that they had not felt the need to visit with him, but something in their energy told him that this was far from a social visit.
Donna rose to her feet when she saw the three powerful figures enter the room, her eyes widening at the swirling incandescence that filled all three beings to near bursting. Their energy was wildly chaotic and yet ordered at the same time, the flaring bursts of possibility so different from the serenity that filled the other two Bellatraxians in the room that she was momentarily overwhelmed by the power she felt flowing off of them. They seemed to be joined in a communal bond, their energies bleeding from one body into the next but all that energy was focused on the blind auger who stood at their head.
The creature turned those sightless eyes towards her, the line of energy that reached out from her body towards Donna was only halted when the Doctor spoke in a voice so quiet and menacing it sent a shiver racing through her. "Tread carefully, Seeress. I knew of you and your power for sight when I was here last, but you will speak to me first before you try to meddle in either of our timelines."
He barely flinched at the indignant squawk of protest he heard in his mind as Donna reminded him that they were a team in this and that they would face whatever these seers wanted together. He responded with a softly whispered warning, that right now they were treading very dangerously and that he needed to meet them from a position of strength.
The Seeress would expect that from him as he was a Time Lord, she would expect that he would meet the threat head on and so would focus mostly on him in regards to that. Donna had always been his secret weapon and he was counting on her to watch and catalogue this encounter, so that they could better understand just what it was that the augers wanted with the two of them.
He could tell that Donna wasn't happy to be relegated neatly to the sidelines, but she knew enough to understand that she was way out of her depth with these creatures of power and so she settled quietly within his mind to watch and to listen.
Largana gasped when she heard the Doctor's impertinence, her eyes widening when she saw the Seeress turn back to him with a faint hint of a smile on her lips. "You are as impertinent as ever, Time Lord. I can see that you are still refusing to accept that which anyone can plainly read in the cosmos."
The Doctor stood his ground against the searing press of that blind gaze, his mind gathering itself for the confrontation that was to come and he knew that his future was about to be made infinitely more complicated by this visit.
"Nishtano, Largana, thank you for your visit and your lovely gift. I think that the augers would like as few witnesses as possible to this meeting."
Both Nishtano and Largana leapt to their feet, the latter nearly tripping over herself in her well wishes to Donna before she beat a hasty retreat from their room. She had never been in the presence of three such powerful augers, and she hoped that she would never be the focus of such a powerful stare as the Doctor had been. She had glimpsed just briefly a shifting in the Doctor's timelines when those timelines had touched the head Seeress before she had quickly turned her head and fled down the hall.
Nishtano took his time making his leave, his hands reaching out to clasp Donna's tightly before he murmured. "Don't let him leave without saying a proper goodbye, Donna."
She smiled tremulously in response, her hands covering Nish's softly furred ones in a fervent grip that belied her nervousness over the sudden tension in the room. "I promise he won't, Nish. We'll make sure to say a proper good-bye to everyone before we leave and we'll be back, I promise."
Nishtano nodded in response before making his way towards the foyer, his gaze lowered respectfully when he reached the augers. "Seeress, augers may the winds blow gently across your soul and may the lines ever shine with promise."
The traditional invocation when one requested leave to depart the presence of the augers rolled off his tongue, though he could tell that the Doctor was not happy with the tone that this visit was already taking. The Doctor frowned when he watched his friend genuflect before the three augers, their eyes all locked onto his downturned head before they spoke as one. "Go into the mist with warmth and light." The simple response was enough to cause Nishtano to bow reverently to each of them before he too beat a hasty retreat.
The Doctor made sure the door was closed tightly behind the augers before he straightened his suit jacket and turned back to face them, his eyes were hooded though he could already feel the cold mantle of the Oncoming Storm once more settle onto his shoulders. He could tell just in the snapping lines of energy that were racing about the three powerful figures that they were about to irrevocably shake his foundation to its very core. For once, he wished that he could just set the weight of the universe down and not be reminded that he would have to once again pick it up.
He gestured towards the seating area by the Tardis, his hand reaching out to grasp Donna's tightly to his when he noticed she had made her way to his side. "Please do come in, I have a feeling this isn't going to be a pleasant visit."
The youngest auger turned kind eyes to him while the head Seeress made her way towards the smallest of the sofas, her gaze drifted from the Doctor to Donna before she allowed a soft smile to form. "You do well to have her by your side, Doctor. She is a fitting companion for you and is meant to be with you through many trials and victories. Please, come, sit and be at peace, Doctor. We do not come to destroy your life but to hopefully give you some future knowledge."
"Nothing good ever came of knowing the future." The Doctor muttered under his breath.
"So says the Time Lord." His eyes snapped to Donna's face at her retort, the sarcastic comment belying the very real tension he could feel quivering through her body. Her fingers were flexing within his grasp, while her eyes were focused intently on the lines of energy that wreathed the three figures. He could already feel the connections snapping into place in her mind, her gaze shifting to follow a particularly virulent burst of power before she turned to look at him with one brow raised slightly in question.
He smiled down into her determined eyes, the cold swirling of the storm for once tempered by her unwavering support. She was his guide and his conscience; she alone had the power to tame the fury that was all too willing to leap free. With one final squeeze of her hand, he nodded and gestured towards the figures seated in their living room.
Donna nodded in response, lips parting as she softly whispered. "Allons'y, Doctor."
His lips quirked at that, the breath whooshing from parted lips before he turned and followed the augers towards the remaining empty seats. He felt like he was walking towards his own execution, but at least he knew that he wouldn't be facing it alone.
The Doctor and Donna made their way to the long couch; his eyes focused intently on the Seeress who was looking at a point slightly beyond the Doctor's left shoulder. She didn't follow his progress across the room, but he could tell that she was perfectly aware of every move that he made.
The two younger augers were watching the both of them with a single minded focus and suddenly he knew that they were the Seeress' eyes. It explained the depth of the connection that could be seen between them; the nearly violent snapping lines of force that seemed to flaring even more brightly with each passing moment.
"I try not to hold too much stock in prophecy, Seeress. The last prophecy I was told didn't exactly have the best news for me, so I would appreciate it if you could just say your piece and leave me to figure out how to deal with your predictions."
The loud hiss in his mind caused him to wince, even though Donna's eyes never left the trio before them. Her fingers tightened against his thigh momentarily before she growled. Try not to antagonize them too much, Doctor. It really would make things a whole lot easier if you would remember to smile once in a while.
The Doctor's jaw clenched at the admonishment in his mind when every fiber in his being was screaming against sitting here with these three powerful figures. He wanted to grab Donna's hand and leap into the Tardis before they could utter their nonsense words of fate; as if the very act of running would somehow change the timelines that these creatures had read.
He had longed for just a few more days of peace, just that little bit longer so that they could explore the uncharted territory that they had discovered on this idyllic world. The universe would never let him be though, and just as always when he was happiest, it made sure that he remembered who was the master in the end.
"I remember your visit here before, Doctor, before the troubles came to our world. I remember how you would sit and talk with the other acolytes though you never really listened to anything that they said." Her voice cracked like a whip in the silence, but there was an underlying tone of fondness in the words that belied the ferocity of the statement.
The Doctor sat back with a grunt, his jaws nearly creaking with the effort of forcing a smile onto his lips when all he wanted to do was snap at her to get to the bloody point. "I listened intently to everything they said at that time, Seeress. I was still too young to really grasp what they were trying to tell me. Still, even on this visit it seems I have much to learn from your people and this world. The divergence that I used to view with such abhorrence in the past is something that your people have always accepted as part of the natural flow of time." He couldn't help the laugh that erupted at that thought, his hand rising to scrub over his face before he looked back at the Seeress over his fingertips.
"To think that your species, one so young compared to my own would be more accepting of divergent timelines was something that I wouldn't let myself accept. I'm a Time Lord, I see the universe in shades of possibility that your race can only begin to imagine and my species has been doing it since before your planet even emerged from the celestial soup."
Donna just barely managed to contain her snort at the condescension dripping from his words; she could tell what he was trying to convey, though as usual his overwhelming sense of arrogance got in the way.
I need her off guard, Donna. Sometimes the words affect the vision and its outcome. I need to know exactly what it was she saw, not what she thought she saw.
Donna forced herself to relax at his side when his voice whispered through her mind, her thoughts racing when she realized that there was a method to the supposed madness of provoking the augers.
"Yet a species as old as yours, Doctor, had extremely rigid views with regards to time. It was something that was spoken of many times after you would leave our world, your remarkably stubborn refusal to accept that time was an ocean that sometimes needed to be altered from the perceived order of the universe."
He nodded in acceptance of the Seeress' words, the muscles on his jaw relaxing when he murmured. "It was a failing of my people. It was part of the reason why I ran so far away from them."
The youngest acolyte looked at the Doctor, her shocking blue eyes were kind when she let her gaze meet his. "The fact that you sought out new knowledge at all was a testament to your will, Doctor. You rebelled against countless millennia of training and breeding and sought to understand how the universe actually worked, rather than simply accepting what your elders had taught you. It was why my people were so drawn to you when you first arrived on our world."
The Doctor jerked at her words, his eyes widening as their import finally sank in. "You were always incredibly knowledgeable about the Time Lords, though you said that only very few had ever visited here."
The head Seeress inclined her head in response to his words, the smile on her lips was now unmistakable. "The Nexus told us all that we needed to know. Beings that were bred from time itself would have a profound effect on any Nexus world, but it was the augers that truly knew the power of your people." She raised a hand and pointed towards the Tardis that dominated the corner of the room, her sightless eyes seemed to burn with a strange inner fire when she let herself sink into the chaos that surrounded the sentient ship.
"Your people harnessed time before most other species had even been borne. They discovered the secrets of probability and then you sat back and observed the universe as it unfolded. There were times when you could have stepped in, but your code kept you from interfering in what your people felt were the proper order of events. It was so hard for us to understand why your people held themselves to those codes when each possibility that ever was or ever will be has its own place in all universes."
The Doctor listened intently to the Seeress' words, surprised that she understood as much as she did about his people. However, it was that very understanding that had him squirming slightly in his seat. He had indeed run away from all the codes and rules since he was a very young man, back in his first regeneration. He had run away from the pressures of a council so bloated on its own power and self-importance that his brand of inquisitiveness could never be tolerated or accepted. He had run away from the burning touch of time that he had seen within the depths of the untempered schism, and he had continued to run from the knowledge that one day he would bring about the downfall of his own people.
"We know why you ran, Doctor. We felt it that first time you stepped foot on this world and we could read the end in your timelines. We saw the Time War though we didn't understand what we were seeing at that time. It was a story that had been passed down through the augers for centuries before the first battle of that conflict was ever waged."
The Doctor surged to his feet, his eyes wild as he stared down at the Seeress with a rage so vast he could barely contain himself. He hardly felt Donna's hand reach up to grab his in a vain attempt to anchor and calm him down, but all his attention was focused on the black pelted figure before him. "If you knew what was coming, then why the hell didn't you say anything? Why did you let me leave that last time when you knew I was going to join the war if you knew that I was only going to be dooming my people to their own destruction?"
The Seeress spread her hands wide in apology, the fur rippling across her body in a gesture that he knew represented chagrin before she murmured. "It had to be, Doctor. Your people call those moments fixed points. This was one of those points. You had to leave that day because in the end your actions would save all of time from burning. That is what was foreseen, Doctor, and that is why we made no attempt to stop you."
The Doctor finally looked down at Donna through slightly wild eyes, his mind once again was shuddering with all the implications in their words. It had all been seen, they had known the hells that he was walking into and they had done nothing to stop him. Once again, he had been sent out as the sacrificial lamb in order to pay the price that no one else was ever willing to pay.
"Because that's what you do, Doctor. You make the decisions that no one else can, and in the end, you save people."
Donna's voice seemed to echo to the Doctor from a long distance away, her words quivering with a premonition of times to come. She was reaching out to him from the edge of that deep dark abyss that had suddenly shuddered open within him; her hand stretched out with all the promise that he had never allowed himself to accept.
She stood, buffeted by the screaming winds of his sorrow, a bastion of strength to which he suddenly, desperately wanted to cling. He was tired of carrying the weight of the universe; he was tired of the guilt of the time war, and he was tired of being the only one who ever seemed to give a damn.
Hey, Spaceman. I give a damn too, remember? I nearly died for it, but I stood right there next to you ready to burn in order to make that little bit of difference.
Just like that, Donna had stripped away all pretense and laid the cold, hard truth at his feet. The augers forgotten for the moment, the Doctor sat down next to Donna and smiled tremulously into her fierce blue eyes the flickering veins of gold shining brightly with the intensity of her focus. "Yes you did, Donna. You gave a damn so all of creation could live."
"You both have sacrificed, Doctor. You both have sacrificed more than many beings can know or possibly understand, but unfortunately you are the only ones left that can make those sacrifices that lesser beings may never even acknowledge."
The Doctor and Donna jumped at the Seeress' words, their attention snapping back to the trio that sat across from them with some trepidation before the Doctor nodded his acceptance of her unexpected praise. "It seems that's what I was born for, Seeress."
He paused when he saw a surge of energy pass between the three augers, their focus was momentarily turned inwards before it seemed a decision had been reached. "You had stated a falsehood when we first entered your rooms, Doctor."
"I… What?" The Doctor squinted at the three augers, his gaze flitting across their inscrutable faces before settling once more on their leader.
"You had cautioned us against meddling in Donna Noble's timeline."
Donna jerked when she heard her name uttered in that sibilant whisper, her eyes darting from the Doctor to the Seeress in order to follow the strange lines of power that had suddenly flared to life between the two of them. Doctor, something's changed. She's connected to you now somehow and I don't know what has happened but it's there.
The Doctor nodded softly in response to Donna's warning. He could just barely make out the shimmering line that had suddenly flickered into being between him and the Seeress, but he knew that she would have a far better view of it. He could never see his lines of possibility very well, they were too murky and nearly impossible to focus on and he found that he preferred it that way. Unfortunately, he knew that he would not be so lucky in this case.
"I did. The timelines were still forming around the both of us from the events halfway across the universe, I do not wish any outside influence to warp them in a manner other than they will naturally fall."
The Seeress laughed when she heard that, a deep-throated laugh that sounded far more human than Nishtano's and sent a shiver of dread skittering down both of their spines. "Oh Doctor, so old and wise yet so blind as well. We do not have the power to affect your timeline or anyone else's though what we see can sometimes make it seem as if we possess such a power."
The Doctor could barely contain his shock at her words, his mind was racing with everything that he had learned of the augers during his previous visits and her words just flew in the face of all of that knowledge. "But your people and your acolytes, they hold you in an almost mystical regard for fear of your displeasure. You're telling me that all that fear is a lie? That's it is all based on superstition?"
For some reason the Doctor was incredibly saddened by the Seeress' words; his sense of wonder that this world had seemed untouched by the cynicism of religion was in danger of being shattered.
"It is not based on superstition, Doctor. We do possess some ability to dabble with certain lines of fate, but never one with such a powerful timeline as your own or Donna Noble's. We can only read your energy and try to decipher what it means, but to try to affect the flow of that maelstrom would be as useless as the leaf trying to change the course of an ocean."
The Doctor sat back at that revelation, looking at the augers through new eyes when he finally realized that they were just trying to understand what the winds of fate would bring to them and how they could best prepare their people to face them. "The gift of sight is a painful gift."
She nodded in quiet acceptance. "All of our people are gifted with sight, Doctor. It is one of the blessings and curses of the Nexus. All of our people can read possibility and potential, but they can't understand what it is that they actually see. Our species has only had this ability for several dozen millennia and we're still learning to cope with it and our place in the universe because of it. Your species was immersed in time nearly from its birth; ours is still struggling to find such a comfortable balance. Perhaps the loss of your people was a destined event and that is why my species and others like ours were given these gifts to be able to read and understand time."
The Seeress was leaning forward and speaking in earnest; her white eyes focused intently on the Doctor though those eyes would never again see the corporeal world and she was pleading with the Doctor to understand. "The augers help bring order to that chaos. We help our people understand what they read in the limitless lines of possibility and we help them cope with a gift that had once been limited to those of us cursed with the gift of sight. If there is some superstition involved in that, then so be it."
The Doctor mulled over her words, his mind was racing to make sense of everything that she had said but it did make a twisted sort of sense. The Time Lord's memories of their first brushes with time's infinite probability were so lost in the darkness of eternity that he could only imagine how his earliest ancestors had coped with the changes. He wondered if they had tried to control the readings much as the augers did for the Bellatraxians. His people had been alone in the cosmos, they had had no road map on how to understand the changes that were manifesting in their people and there had to have been some fear before their natural penchant for order and discipline took over.
"I actually think I understand, Seeress. The Time Lords were old before many planets were born, but they were rather set in their ways. It's why we clashed as spectacularly as we did on so many different occasions." The Doctor smiled sadly, his hand blindly reaching out for Donna's before he continued. "Perhaps my species really did need to fall so that yours and others like yours could learn to fill in the gap."
Donna's fingers clenched tight around his, her mind once more wrapping his battered soul up in its gentle warmth as she hauled him back from the bottomless pit of despair within his soul. She sat stoically beside him, her gaze never wavering from the augers before her as she watched the surging energy spiral between the Doctor and the Seeress.
It was flaring with infinite possibility though some of its strength had faded when they had spoken about the fall of the Time Lords and the rise of her people in their stead, almost as if threads were being plucked out at random with each word that was spoken.
The Seeress leaned back in her seat as her hands began their restless motions once more, the soft clatter of rings that bedecked her fingers suddenly filled the room. "The time has come, Doctor. The Nexus has spoken and the time for pleasantries is past."
Both the Doctor and Donna sat up at her sudden authoritative words, but it was the second auger who then spoke. "The walls between worlds continue to crumble and that which was not is coming to pass. The burning skies heralded the beginning of time's uncertainty, the screams of the dead were its fanfare."
Donna looked to the auger who was speaking, barely able to contain the gasp when she saw the golden glow emanating from her dark eyes. It was a glow similar to what had bled from her own eyes when she had been filled with the Doctor's consciousness, but she could tell that this was somehow different. Though she could see time raging in those fathomless depths, its power spilling out in the golden fire that even now was growing to consume the trio, it was not the destructive fire of a Time Lord's mind contained within such a fragile shell. It was almost as if the power of the Nexus was manifesting in the young acolyte and thus was speaking through her.
The Doctor frowned when he heard those words, his mind already trying to make sense of the seeming gibberish and trying to find the pattern that would hopefully give him some sort of clue before it was too late.
The youngest acolyte then began to speak. "The Lord's journey to seek time's blessing will be the spark that ignites the pyre and sets the course towards destiny. The one who was lost will find their way back to the Phoenix and the one who was left behind will shatter fate's bonds to return." The Doctor frowned when he heard the word phoenix, almost as if the translation that the Tardis provided was not quite accurate. He cocked his head for a moment, sifting through the layers of consciousness in his mind to find the actual words that had been spoken in their native tongue rather than the subconscious translation. His eyes widened when the words suddenly echoed through his mind, the whispers speaking of a luminous being risen from the conflagration of its own demise.
His hand tightened in Donna's grasp when the Seeress then began to shine with a radiance that rivaled even the fire of the Tardis as all the energy from every auger on the planet was suddenly focused on their chief visionary. Her white eyes were burning with golden fire and her fur was suddenly set ablaze with coruscating waves of raw power. "Time's flow has been altered and the universe has accounted for the pebble that has led to its new course. The price will be paid by those who understand probability but know not how to control it, and only the confluence of the Phoenix and the Lord of Time will be able to stem the tide. The lines of fate are sealed, Son of Kasteborous and all across the cosmos chance is settling into fact. The price has been exacted and it will be paid as even now the warp and woof of time's new tapestry is set in the stars."
Donna was quivering with dread as she listened to the words from the augers, her mind already filled with the Doctor's raging shout of denial that others were once more paying the price for his good fortune. There was nothing she could do as the fury rose within the Doctor so swiftly as to leave her gasping for breath, his mind already racing through calculations for the Tardis to begin scanning the cosmos for other tears in reality that could bring about what the augers were prophesizing.
"Hold still to your rage, Man from Gallifrey, the time is not yet upon you. The universe will continue to unfold as its new destiny will require and no attempt on your part will speed its conclusion. The lines of chance are still in flux, the final remnants of the old order are burning away and the new future taking hold. Your time will come, but all will not be lost should you listen to the voices of promise."
"Voices of promise? What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?"
The glow around the augers was beginning to fade and the snapping line of energy that had been raging between the Doctor and the Seeress was melting away, but not before she whispered. "You have been granted a boon for your place as the guardian of the heart of time and all reality. The universe has allowed you the chance to embrace destiny's change, but be ever mindful of her place at your side. You are linked in ways that even the universe has not fully taken into consideration and so while the timelines are still in flux, hold steady to that promise that you have been given. Go in peace, Time Lord. Rest and recuperate as a time of celebration is nearing for you. The universe will let you know when the time has come to run once more."
The Seeress then collapsed back into the cushions of her seat like a marionette whose strings had been cut, her eyes were once more white, blank pools staring endlessly into nothing. The two younger acolytes gasped as they felt the power of the Nexus leave them suddenly bereft, their hands were shaking as they turned to make sure that their chief visionary was not unduly harmed by the power that had just seized her in its grasp.
The Doctor was quivering with barely contained emotion, his eyes were shining with the utter helplessness that was threatening to drown him. Somewhere out there, someone else was paying the price for his second chance; someone, somewhere was having to answer for his continued prosperity. It was almost more than he could bear.
"You think he can just go on like he was before because you told him to? You obviously don't know what kind of man he is if you think he can just leave it all behind until the universe just snaps its fingers so he can come running like some dog?"
Donna was fuming as she looked at the three augers before her, her mind was screaming at the injustice that once again was being hurled against the Doctor and they all just expected him to sit there and take it. They had been happy here for a short time, they had been growing so close and they had been looking forward to the holidays that were coming up and now she knew that the celebrations would taste like ashes.
The youngest acolyte was the first to recover from her trance, her startling gaze locking with Donna's before she responded with a quiet gravity that shocked the human woman to the core. "He has no choice Donna Noble. He can either accept that the time is not yet at hand or he can go insane. The choice is ultimately his to make."
The Doctor's lips quirked at that comment, his cold, dead eyes rising to lock onto her suddenly ageless gaze. "Not much of a choice then, is there, acolyte? The universe doesn't want an insane Time Lord on its hands, certainly not the last of the Time Lords with no one left to stop me; the future was nearly destroyed once by that possibility."
The Seeress lifted her eyes to the Doctor though it was obvious that she was drained by the prophesy that had just throttled her in its grasp, she licked her lips before she was able to find her voice. "The universe would always account for anything you did on the red world, Doctor. There was never any danger there, as you unfortunately discovered. Sometimes, some things can't be changed no matter how much you might wish it could be different."
The muscle clenched once more in the Doctor's jaw before he curtly nodded. "Yeah, thanks for telling me something I already know."
"You had made peace with those events, Doctor. Do not let what will come cost you that peace. Joy is fleeting, especially in the life of a guardian such as yourself. Embrace it, or you truly will never find succor this side of your final death." The harshness that lined her face was slowly fading away, melting back into the mask of inscrutability that she was struggling to maintain. "As the last of your kind, you do still hold the fate of time and destiny in your hands. Your power is significant as is your ability to use that power for the good of all reality; the universe is well aware of the rage of its vengeful god, which is why from time to time beings like myself are thrust into your path. We are the guideposts, the warnings to not fall as so many fell before you. There is truly no being left powerful enough to stop you should you not choose to stop yourself."
Her words pierced his soul, each one tearing another jagged hole until all that was left was the swirling madness that he had felt on Mars, licking at the edges of his sanity until he could barely think straight. When would it ever end? When would he ever be granted more than a few fleeting moments of peace?
He merely sat silently, his gaze raking over the three augers before he asked in a voice as cold as ice. "Are we done here, Seeress?"
Donna looked to him, her gaze betraying nothing but her mind trying to soothe the raw grief and madness that had suddenly surged beyond his control. The feeling that once again he was not even the master of his own fate had left him floundering and though he was resilient, she worried that he would be reeling for a long while to come.
The augers looked to the Seeress when the heard the Doctor's question, surprised to see the regal woman bow her head towards the Doctor in response to his question. "Yes, Doctor, we are done. The Nexus has shown us all that we can see at this time and unfortunately the shape of the words are not ours to control. Be mindful of the future, Doctor. Don't go running towards that fate, it will find you soon enough."
He nodded curtly and rose to his feet, his hand clenched tightly in Donna's as they ushered the augers to the door. "Go with peace, Time Lord. Know that the Nexus will sing of your return to this world and hopefully your next visit will be untouched by the winds of time."
"Like that would ever happen. I am ever at the service of the universe, Seeress." Though the words were tinged with bitterness, the Doctor still remembered enough of himself to bow formally to the august trio as they prepared to leave.
"Go into the mist with warmth and light, Doctor and Donna Noble." The traditional words were left whispering in the foyer when the three turned as one and made their way down the hall.
The Doctor closed the door a little more firmly then he had intended to, but his control was fast dissolving to useless tatters. He could feel Donna's concern screaming through his mind and for once he could do little more than stumble to her and pull her warmly yielding body into his arms.
"It'll be alright, Doctor. In the end we know that something is coming and that there is a possibility that it all won't end in disaster, surely that has to count for something?"
He snorted softly against her neck, his eyes sliding closed as he ran the augers words through his mind over and over again. He breathed deeply of her scent, his hands gripping her body nearly tightly as he used each inhalation and exhalation to force the shrieking voices of madness back into the recesses of his mind.
He was a Time Lord! He should not be tossed about like so much flotsam, and yet he knew that his own conscience and code would never allow him to take that final, fatal fall into utter and glorious madness. It galled him to know that there was nothing he could do right now, and even though he knew it would be hopeless, he was going to set the Tardis to scanning for any anomalies once they were free of Bellatrix Prime. "Yeah it counts for something, I suppose."
Slowly, he clawed his way out from the mire of despair, his head turning so he could lose himself for a moment in the wonder of her presence in his arms. This was his reality right now, at this moment. She was the anchor to which he could cling when the storm winds threatened to tear his resolve to shreds. He had once worried that a Time Lord lived too long, but now he knew that nothing could be farther from the truth. They just needed something to fight for, some reason for which to keep on going when the weight of the universe became too much.
She pulled back, her hand lifting his gaze to hers so that he could see the depth of love and concern in her eyes. "Hey, Timeboy, don't let this break you. You're not alone remember?"
The left side of his mouth quirked slightly at her words, his mind shifting to grab tightly onto hers when it felt like the winds of the storm would scour his soul bare. "Yeah, I'm finally not alone anymore. Whatever comes, we'll face it together, Donna, like we always do."
She nodded resolutely, her hand sliding through his thick tousled mane to rub gently along the tense cords in the back of his neck. "I love you, Doctor. I love the compassion you feel for people you don't even know and the pain you feel even now in knowing that they will be suffering. I love you for hating that suffering, and hating even more the helplessness that you feel when you know that it won't be revealed until the time is right. This is not the first time you have faced circumstances like this, nor will it be the last; yet you don't let that knowledge break your indomitable spirit nor temper your zeal to save as many as you possibly can no matter the personal cost. It was that spirit that I fell in love with Doctor and I'm honored that the universe has seen fit to give me a place at your side during the storms that are to come."
The Doctor's eyes were boring into hers, his hearts beating strong and sure with every word that she spoke before he let his arms slide around her waist and crush her close against him. With those words of love and support he finally was able to force the gibbering madness back into its dank hole and slam the door closed on that dark and terrible part of himself. His eyes were shining as the weight that had been nearly crushing him shattered into a million pieces. "I love you from the depths of my soul, Donna. I'm the one who is honored to have you at my side. I'm the one who can't believe that I got the chance to make things right by you, and I'll fight to keep you with me no matter what. The universe didn't need to tell me to hold tight to you, I have no intention of ever letting you go."
Her soft gasp of wonder was claimed by his descending lips; his mouth suddenly slanting over hers with such ferocious hunger that she could do little more than melt against him in helpless response. His mind was holding hers almost painfully within its grasp, his thoughts threading so deliberately through hers that it felt as if he were trying to truly fuse them into one. She shuddered when she brushed up against that stygian place within his mind; the shadows of madness reaching out to her with hungry fingers before the power of his presence forced them to recede. She delved deeper into his mind, letting her soul be entwined utterly within his and falling into his depths when it became so painfully obvious that he needed desperately to lose everything he was in the wonder of her shining compassion.
He pulled away with a groan, his eyes sliding closed as his forehead fell to rest softly against hers. "You're mine, Donna Noble. Body, mind and soul are all mine and I will cherish you for the rest of your days."
Donna smiled up into the burning depths of his gaze, her fingers tracing the tiny lines that had flashed into being around his ancient, ancient eyes. "As you are mine, Doctor. I swear to protect you with everything that I am, even when it means I need to protect you from yourself. I meant it when I said that I would travel with you forever. And Doctor? Forever has just begun."
The Doctor buried his face in her shoulder, his lips pressing soft, worshipful kisses to the gently fluttering pulse point. The beauty and fire that was Donna Noble humbled him beyond words, and he could only hold tight to her promise.
His breath nearly failed him when he felt her thread her entire soul through his; the feather light touch shining a comforting and terrifying light into all his darkness so that he could do little more than shudder against her in whimpering response. No man or god was so lost that he could never be saved by love.
He could face what the universe threw at him with her at his side; in the end, it was more than he had ever been promised in the past. For the first time in longer then he dared to remember, he felt ready to answer fate's inevitable call.