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Title: If You Knew Your Future… Chapter 1
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
katherine_b
Characters/Pairing: The Doctor (Ten) and Donna
Rating: G
Spoilers: All of series four of NuWho
Summary: Donna wakes up to find herself in a world that is much too familiar.
A/N: The idea for this story came from my revisits to the various S4 episodes as a result of writing Revisiting the Past. However the other inspiration came from the fact that I’ve read a lot of stories where the Doctor finds himself in an alternate universe with Donna. He knows something of how to cope and what to expect because he’s a Time Lord. It made me wonder – how would Donna cope in an alternate universe?
*
Chapter I – And Then She Remembered
She’s woken by a tiny click.
For a moment she just lies there, feeling the softness of the pillow under her head. Bed. Warm blankets. Bit too warm, now that she thinks about it. If she wasn’t so comfortable, she’d throw one off.
“Donna?” a voice murmurs from the doorway.
Ah, so that’s what woke her up.
Typical.
It’s as she’s prising her eyes open to see a streak of light from the doorway flung across the end of her bed that memory begins to trickle back.
The TARDIS.
The Doctor.
The Crucible.
Fire.
The metacrisis.
Two Doctors.
The DoctorDonna, just like the Ood said.
Binary and friction and Charlie Chaplin and Brixton.
Pain.
So much pain.
So much…
Light.
“Donna? I know you’re awake. Are you ignoring me?”
Soft footsteps on the carpet.
“Are you still angry with me because I didn’t give you Matron Cofelia’s pen? I’m sorry. Again. I really didn’t know you wanted it that much.”
Matron Cofelia?
Donna suddenly finds herself sitting bolt upright, staring at the Doctor, who has stopped several feet away from the bed and is now watching her warily, clearly startled by her abrupt movement.
There’s a moment of silence.
“Hello,” the Doctor ventures, watching her as if she’s about to yell at him. Probably not an unreasonable expectation.
“Wh-what day is this?”
The Doctor fishes in his pocket and pulls out the sonic screwdriver, pointing it at the bedside lamp, which lights immediately. Donna has to blink to clear her vision and when she is finally able to see properly, the Doctor is sitting in a chair near the bed, his elbows resting on his knees, watching her with a wary expression.
“Donna, this is a time machine,” he reminds her in a gentle voice. “There’s not really ‘days’ here as such. I told you all this last night.”
She narrows her eyes. “What happened last night?”
His expression moves almost instantly from wary to full-blown anxiety. He steps up to the bed and begins talking fast as he shines the sonic screwdriver into first one of her eyes and then the other.
“Donna, I don’t like the sound of – that is, are you sure nothing happened last night after you went to your room? You did say you were tired after everything that happened with the Adipose and you wanted to go to bed, but you didn’t maybe trip over and bang your head on something? You’re not feverish or coming down with anything, are you? I mean, the TARDIS can probably fix it, but it’s going to take time, and frankly it’s not the best way to start…”
Frustrated by his babbling, Donna pushes the sonic screwdriver aside and glares at him. “Stop bleeping me!”
Silence falls as rapidly as if she’d stuffed her pillow into his mouth. He stares at her for a moment before grinning.
“Good, well, at least I know you’re Donna and you haven’t been possessed by some alien life-force when I wasn’t looking. Not that the TARDIS would let that happen, of course, but it’s nice to know for sure.”
He tucks the sonic screwdriver back into his pocket before speaking again.
“You know who I am?”
“Of course!” She shakes her head impatiently. “You’re the Doctor.”
“And how do we know each other?”
“You saved me from the Empress of the Racnoss – and from Lance.” She meets his gaze steadily, watching him give a slight nod that encourages her to continue. “I was full of huon particles and you drained the Thames to kill the Racnoss that were in the core of the Earth.”
“Good.” He rocks back on his heels, a relieved look on his face. “And then?”
“And then, after I was daft and turned down your offer to come with you – and there’s no need to grin like that, mate! – I went looking for you and finally found you at Adipose Industries. We stopped Matron Cofelia from turning everyone in England into fat. And then…”
He cuts her off, the wary expression returning to his face as he sits beside her on the bed. “And then? Donna, we haven’t had the chance to do anything else. All of that with the Adipose happened only a few hours ago by your timeline. We can’t have done anything else yet.”
“But…”
Donna stops herself from finishing the sentence she has in mind, which is full of references to the Ood, and Sontarans, and Agatha Christie and the Daleks. She’s seen enough now to know that something distinctly non-linear has happened to her personal timeline. If this Doctor sitting next to her bed is telling her that they haven’t done anything except save the Earth from the Adipose, then she can only assume that he’s telling the truth.
After all, he’s never lied to her before.
She looks up to meet his gaze and he nods, covering her hands with his. His skin is cool against her warm fingers.
“Whatever happened to you, Donna, we’ll figure it out. But you can’t tell me things we haven’t done yet. You just – you can’t mess with time like that. I know it’s going to be difficult for you. I’ve been in the same situation – oh, more times than I can count! But you absolutely cannot tell me a single thing. If you’ve been through all this before, you’ve got to let me make the same mistakes, even if it means I regenerate or… Ooh, that’s interesting.”
“What is?”
“That. When I said ‘regenerate’ – and I’ve never told you about my little habit of doing that when I’m about to die – you gave the tiniest nod. Like you know about it. Like you’ve seen it. Ah, you have!”
He gets up from the bed and all but spins in circles, his frustration evident in his frantic pacing, his hands pressed to his temples.
“You know about my next regeneration. You were probably even there! Gah, you even know what I look like, don’t you?”
“Doctor?”
“The next me. Ooh, that’s just so tempting! But you mustn’t tell me. Not a single word. Just – did it hurt? No! No, don’t answer that!"
“Doctor.”
“Of course it will, it always does – well, except for the first time. Not much anyway. Although – last time wasn’t nice. Time Vortex through my veins and all that.”
“Doctor!”
She finally gets his attention and he turns to face her, his head tilted slightly to one side, curiously evident in his eyes.
“Mmm?”
“I haven’t seen you regenerate.”
“Oh.”
He sounds almost disappointed. She gets out of bed, crosses the room and stops in front of him.
“I promise,” she says solemnly. “Not one word. But you can’t watch me and try to work out what I might be thinking – if I’ve seen this or that before and what happened on a particular planet. All right?”
The Doctor nods slowly, a tiny smile appearing on his face. “All right. So do you know where you want to go next?”
She manages not to suggest that they try for ancient Rome and instead arches an eyebrow.
“Tell you what,” she suggests, “give me time to get showered and dressed. Oh, and a coffee wouldn’t go astray. And maybe some toast or something. Not sure what time it is by your internal clock, but for me, I’ve been asleep and now it’s morning, so I want my breakfast. But,” she grabs his hand as he’s about to bounce out of the room in the direction of, Donna hopes, the kitchen, “I might be a while,” she adds. “I want to see if I can work out what happened.”
For a moment, the Doctor stands and looks directly into her eyes. Donna wonders if he’s trying to read her mind, because she’s certain that he’s as confused about this whole situation as she is. And then he nods, that slightly wary expression returning to his face, and he gives her fingers a gentle squeeze before freeing himself.
“Take your time,” he tells her. “I’ll be in the kitchen when you’re done. And then we’ll go and visit – hey, you know where I want to take you first? Ancient Rome! It’ll be brilliant!”
*The glorious picture for this story was made by the very talentedkatekat1010. Thank you so much!
Next Part
Author:
katherine_bCharacters/Pairing: The Doctor (Ten) and Donna
Rating: G
Spoilers: All of series four of NuWho
Summary: Donna wakes up to find herself in a world that is much too familiar.
A/N: The idea for this story came from my revisits to the various S4 episodes as a result of writing Revisiting the Past. However the other inspiration came from the fact that I’ve read a lot of stories where the Doctor finds himself in an alternate universe with Donna. He knows something of how to cope and what to expect because he’s a Time Lord. It made me wonder – how would Donna cope in an alternate universe?
*Chapter I – And Then She Remembered
She’s woken by a tiny click.
For a moment she just lies there, feeling the softness of the pillow under her head. Bed. Warm blankets. Bit too warm, now that she thinks about it. If she wasn’t so comfortable, she’d throw one off.
“Donna?” a voice murmurs from the doorway.
Ah, so that’s what woke her up.
Typical.
It’s as she’s prising her eyes open to see a streak of light from the doorway flung across the end of her bed that memory begins to trickle back.
The TARDIS.
The Doctor.
The Crucible.
Fire.
The metacrisis.
Two Doctors.
The DoctorDonna, just like the Ood said.
Binary and friction and Charlie Chaplin and Brixton.
Pain.
So much pain.
So much…
Light.
“Donna? I know you’re awake. Are you ignoring me?”
Soft footsteps on the carpet.
“Are you still angry with me because I didn’t give you Matron Cofelia’s pen? I’m sorry. Again. I really didn’t know you wanted it that much.”
Matron Cofelia?
Donna suddenly finds herself sitting bolt upright, staring at the Doctor, who has stopped several feet away from the bed and is now watching her warily, clearly startled by her abrupt movement.
There’s a moment of silence.
“Hello,” the Doctor ventures, watching her as if she’s about to yell at him. Probably not an unreasonable expectation.
“Wh-what day is this?”
The Doctor fishes in his pocket and pulls out the sonic screwdriver, pointing it at the bedside lamp, which lights immediately. Donna has to blink to clear her vision and when she is finally able to see properly, the Doctor is sitting in a chair near the bed, his elbows resting on his knees, watching her with a wary expression.
“Donna, this is a time machine,” he reminds her in a gentle voice. “There’s not really ‘days’ here as such. I told you all this last night.”
She narrows her eyes. “What happened last night?”
His expression moves almost instantly from wary to full-blown anxiety. He steps up to the bed and begins talking fast as he shines the sonic screwdriver into first one of her eyes and then the other.
“Donna, I don’t like the sound of – that is, are you sure nothing happened last night after you went to your room? You did say you were tired after everything that happened with the Adipose and you wanted to go to bed, but you didn’t maybe trip over and bang your head on something? You’re not feverish or coming down with anything, are you? I mean, the TARDIS can probably fix it, but it’s going to take time, and frankly it’s not the best way to start…”
Frustrated by his babbling, Donna pushes the sonic screwdriver aside and glares at him. “Stop bleeping me!”
Silence falls as rapidly as if she’d stuffed her pillow into his mouth. He stares at her for a moment before grinning.
“Good, well, at least I know you’re Donna and you haven’t been possessed by some alien life-force when I wasn’t looking. Not that the TARDIS would let that happen, of course, but it’s nice to know for sure.”
He tucks the sonic screwdriver back into his pocket before speaking again.
“You know who I am?”
“Of course!” She shakes her head impatiently. “You’re the Doctor.”
“And how do we know each other?”
“You saved me from the Empress of the Racnoss – and from Lance.” She meets his gaze steadily, watching him give a slight nod that encourages her to continue. “I was full of huon particles and you drained the Thames to kill the Racnoss that were in the core of the Earth.”
“Good.” He rocks back on his heels, a relieved look on his face. “And then?”
“And then, after I was daft and turned down your offer to come with you – and there’s no need to grin like that, mate! – I went looking for you and finally found you at Adipose Industries. We stopped Matron Cofelia from turning everyone in England into fat. And then…”
He cuts her off, the wary expression returning to his face as he sits beside her on the bed. “And then? Donna, we haven’t had the chance to do anything else. All of that with the Adipose happened only a few hours ago by your timeline. We can’t have done anything else yet.”
“But…”
Donna stops herself from finishing the sentence she has in mind, which is full of references to the Ood, and Sontarans, and Agatha Christie and the Daleks. She’s seen enough now to know that something distinctly non-linear has happened to her personal timeline. If this Doctor sitting next to her bed is telling her that they haven’t done anything except save the Earth from the Adipose, then she can only assume that he’s telling the truth.
After all, he’s never lied to her before.
She looks up to meet his gaze and he nods, covering her hands with his. His skin is cool against her warm fingers.
“Whatever happened to you, Donna, we’ll figure it out. But you can’t tell me things we haven’t done yet. You just – you can’t mess with time like that. I know it’s going to be difficult for you. I’ve been in the same situation – oh, more times than I can count! But you absolutely cannot tell me a single thing. If you’ve been through all this before, you’ve got to let me make the same mistakes, even if it means I regenerate or… Ooh, that’s interesting.”
“What is?”
“That. When I said ‘regenerate’ – and I’ve never told you about my little habit of doing that when I’m about to die – you gave the tiniest nod. Like you know about it. Like you’ve seen it. Ah, you have!”
He gets up from the bed and all but spins in circles, his frustration evident in his frantic pacing, his hands pressed to his temples.
“You know about my next regeneration. You were probably even there! Gah, you even know what I look like, don’t you?”
“Doctor?”
“The next me. Ooh, that’s just so tempting! But you mustn’t tell me. Not a single word. Just – did it hurt? No! No, don’t answer that!"
“Doctor.”
“Of course it will, it always does – well, except for the first time. Not much anyway. Although – last time wasn’t nice. Time Vortex through my veins and all that.”
“Doctor!”
She finally gets his attention and he turns to face her, his head tilted slightly to one side, curiously evident in his eyes.
“Mmm?”
“I haven’t seen you regenerate.”
“Oh.”
He sounds almost disappointed. She gets out of bed, crosses the room and stops in front of him.
“I promise,” she says solemnly. “Not one word. But you can’t watch me and try to work out what I might be thinking – if I’ve seen this or that before and what happened on a particular planet. All right?”
The Doctor nods slowly, a tiny smile appearing on his face. “All right. So do you know where you want to go next?”
She manages not to suggest that they try for ancient Rome and instead arches an eyebrow.
“Tell you what,” she suggests, “give me time to get showered and dressed. Oh, and a coffee wouldn’t go astray. And maybe some toast or something. Not sure what time it is by your internal clock, but for me, I’ve been asleep and now it’s morning, so I want my breakfast. But,” she grabs his hand as he’s about to bounce out of the room in the direction of, Donna hopes, the kitchen, “I might be a while,” she adds. “I want to see if I can work out what happened.”
For a moment, the Doctor stands and looks directly into her eyes. Donna wonders if he’s trying to read her mind, because she’s certain that he’s as confused about this whole situation as she is. And then he nods, that slightly wary expression returning to his face, and he gives her fingers a gentle squeeze before freeing himself.
“Take your time,” he tells her. “I’ll be in the kitchen when you’re done. And then we’ll go and visit – hey, you know where I want to take you first? Ancient Rome! It’ll be brilliant!”
*The glorious picture for this story was made by the very talented
katekat1010. Thank you so much!Next Part
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