The road less travelled...

Title: Living Alone – Through Different Eyes
Author: katherine_b
Rating: G
Summary: The Doctor is in for a surprise.
Word Count: approx 1,600 words
Characters: Ten, Donna and Captain Jack
A/N: Written for louiecat68 who asked “Would you do a sequel to "Living Alone "? Or the Doctor's POV of "Living Alone"?” Your wish is my command!
A/N 2: As the original series appears almost a year before Children of Earth the events of those episodes have been disregarded for this series.

The hallways of Torchwood were surprisingly empty, and the Doctor glanced into more than one room as he passed. This place had grown a lot since he was last here, and he had to wonder just how long that must have been. Still, he knew at least one thing wouldn’t have changed.

Jack was already waiting for him, having been presumably alerted about the arrival of the TARDIS by some hi-tech gizmo Torchwood had found during one of their raids. He was standing outside an office, hands in the pockets of his long coat, and as soon as he met the Doctor’s gaze, he jerked his head to the right and then disappeared into an office in the same direction.

The Doctor sped up a little to catch up with him and found the Captain pacing the carpet between the desk and several armchairs. He looked up as the Doctor stopped in the doorway, the emotions all too clear in his eyes.

“What is it?” the Doctor demanded as he crosses the threshold. “What’s wrong? What,” he added in resigned tones as he recognised the expression on the Time Agent’s face, “have I done?”

“Where have you been?” Jack demanded furiously. “After all this time, you just saunter in as if you own the place!”

“It hasn’t been that long,” he protested rather feebly, dropping into one of the armchairs as Jack waved impatiently towards it.

“It’s been four hundred years, Doctor!” Jack shot back immediately, and he felt the passing of time with a sense of shock. Perhaps Jack’s reaction was more understandable than he’d thought. “This is the twenty-fifth century!” the immortal man adds for emphasis. “This world has been left to fend for itself for that long!”

“It seems to have coped very nicely, all things considered,” he replied, hoping to cool Jack’s rage with a compliment. “I suppose that’s thanks to you and your team, Captain.”

Jack’s shoulders sagged a little, and when he turned back to face his visitor, there was a hint of desperation on his face. “How long’s it been for you, Doctor?”

“Difficult to say, really,” he admitted, pushing himself out of the chair and crossing the floor to be closer to Jack, who had retreated to his desk. “And you’re wrong, Jack,” he added gently. “I have visited Earth – just not in this time period. Couple of visits to the Middle Ages, once to Early History and then in the thirty-ninth century – and you weren’t there then, I would like to point out!”

“Can’t explain that,” Jack retorted, and there was something in his voice that made the Doctor believe he was not being entirely truthful. He had to wonder just what happened to the Time Agent in the interim.

And then a buzz sounding through the room made him jump a little. Jack reached out and pressed a button on what was presumably an intercom.

“What is it?” he demanded curtly.

“Excuse me, Captain.” The response came in a woman’s voice, and the Doctor’s hearts leapt before he could stop himself. He crushed the thought - the longing! - instantly though. It was impossible for that to be Donna. She must have been dead several centuries – and even if she wasn’t, it’s not like she would remember him. “Might I have a word?” that painfully familiar voice went on.

Jack looked up, out of the office, and the Doctor caught himself trying to peer around the half-open door.

“Er, not right now,” Jack said to the woman. “I’m in a meeting. But would you mind bringing us coffee?”

“Certainly, sir,” came the immediate reply.

The tension had drained from Jack, and the Doctor was left to wonder just who the woman was and how she had managed to erase Jack’s fury so completely.

He couldn’t – wouldn’t! – let himself believe it was Donna.

“So why now, Doctor?” Jack demanded, getting up to close the door and waving at the chairs again.

“Why did I come back?” he asked, understanding, as he sat down. “Practical reasons, I’m afraid. The rift. But I don’t like to stay away from Earth long.”

“And you’re alone,” Jack said, looking around as if expecting someone to saunter into the room.

“Yeah,” the Doctor agreed softly. “I thought – it might be good for a while. Good for me.”

For once, Jack was surprisingly tactful. In fact, if the Doctor hadn’t known better, he’d have thought there was an expression of relief in the other man’s eyes.

“So what about you then, Jack?” he asked to change the subject. “Anything unexpected I should know about?”

They talked business for the next few minute until a knock was heard on the door, which opened and then a woman entered the room.

The Doctor had only realised he’d gasped when he heard the sound.

Fortunately, Jack appeared not to have heard. He grinned as the woman with long, ginger hair turned to him. “Thank you,” he said to her with a grin.

“You’re welcome, Captain,” she replied in a tone that suggested she was smiling.

Before she could leave the room again – and the Doctor was about to leap up from his chair to stop her – Jack grabbed her wrist and pulled her close to him. The Time Lord rolled his eyes as Jack gave her a long, passionate kiss.

“Oh, please!” he burst out.

“What?” Jack demanded as he let her go. “I was only saying hello!”

“Hah!” he shot back, for wont of anything better to say.

And then the woman turned around, and he felt his eyes widen as he instantly saw and recognised her all-too-familiar features. Impossible or not, it couldn’t be anyone but her.

“Donna,” he muttered under his breath.

For a moment, the woman looked at him, and every instant he expected to see the light of recognition in her eyes. He felt as if he’d been punched in the stomach when, instead of speaking to him, she turned to Jack.

“I’m sorry, should I…? Do I…?”

His hearts sank into his stomach and he also glanced at Jack, who frowned.

“Oh, of course,” he said quickly. “Donna, this is the D – John Smith.”

The Doctor could have slapped Jack for that slip of the tongue, but he was too busy getting up to respond to Donna’s offer of a handshake. And then, just before she would have taken his hand, she drew back.

“You know,” she said slowly, “I think we’ve met. Somewhere. Oh… such a long time ago.”

The tone hurt more than the words. He knew that, even if she no longer remembered him, those elements of his past continued to bleed through to her present. No wonder Jack had her working at Torchwood. It would be the only place where such a strange mix of human normalcy and Time Lord brilliance could go unchallenged.

“Yes,” he agreed, as misery washed over him. “Yes, we did.”

For a long minute, he could feel as she stared at him. “I’m sorry,” she said at last, “the details escape me. You see, I have problems with my memory sometimes.”

That statement hit him right where it hurt and he was grateful when she turned away so that she wouldn’t see the pain he was sure would be obvious in his eyes.

“Excuse me, Captain,” she said to Jack. “I have work to do.”

The other man nodded. “Of course.”

She turned back, and the polite smile on her face hurt most of all. “It was nice to see you again,” she said, and there was an infinitesimal pause before she finished, “Doctor.”

He could actually feel the way that word worked its way into his brain and comprehension dawned. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the grin spread across Jack’s face, and although Donna had turned quickly, it hadn’t been fast enough for him to avoid seeing the wicked sparkle in her eyes.

He couldn’t remember opening the door, couldn’t remember leaving the office, couldn’t remember anything until his arms were around Donna, holding her against him, even as her body crashed into the desk in the hallway outside.

“Ow!” she protested, although he could hear the laughter in her voice. “Hey!”

“Donna Noble,” he roared, unable to decide if he was angry, or embarrassed, or delighted, or all three at once and a lot of others he didn’t want to waste time determining now, “you horrible, rotten tease!”

She chuckled, that lovely light sound he had missed so much. Her hands came to rest on the arms around her waist and she leaned her head back against his shoulder. He could believe she was here now, but he wasn’t about to let her go yet.

“I did it well, though, didn’t I?” she suggested.

He didn’t hear Jack’s response, focusing too hard on the feel of her in his arms after this long, the scent of her perfume, the sound of her heart beating fast in her chest and her breathing, quick and light. He closed his eyes in relief at the knowledge that somehow, impossibly, he had her back again.

“Donna Noble,” he murmured. “I can’t believe it.”

“Believe it, Time Boy.” He opened his eyes at the sound of her voice, finding them looking in a small mirror inside the door of a cupboard. He feasted his eyes on her features, adoring the chance to see her smile again, a triumphant expression on her face, as she proclaimed, “You’ve got me back now and you’ll never get rid of me again.”

Epilogue