The road less travelled...

Title: Sweet Surprise
Author: katherine_b
Rating: PG
Summary: Six years since Donna began travelling with the Doctor.
Word Count: approx 600 words
Characters: Ten and Donna
A/N: This is a happy A/U where pesky meta-crises never happened.

The Doctor stares as Donna whips off the blindfold.

"The console? I don't get it, Donna's - what's so..."

He trails off at the sight of little coloured blobs dotted into the grooves of the console edge and then turned to his companion, a naughty grin tugging at the corners of his mouth, matching the one on her face.

"If any of those melt into vital areas, we might never be able to visit the 1980s again," he warns.

"Oh, like that would be a loss," she snorts, before adding, "Still, wouldn't want to upset the old girl. We'd better get eating then, hadn't we, Doctor?"

They dive for the console, and at that moment the Doctor realises that his hands are still bound behind his back from the earlier events of the evening.

Dropping to his knees, he scoops up the first jelly-baby with his tongue, chewing and swallowing as he moves on to the next and the next. On the other side of the console he can see Donna doing the same thing, kindly keeping her hands behind her back as well to ensure a level playing-field.

Since he knows she is just as fond of jelly-babies as he is, he hurries to ensure that he gets his fair share.

His sensitive taste-buds pick up the flavours of his ship - steel and carbon and wood and faint traces of the time vortex itself, all overshadowed by the sweetness of the confectionary. He can also detect hints of Donna's own unique scent from when she had set out the jelly-babies in the first place.

His mouth is full of melting jelly and he has to stop to swallow it all so that he doesn't choke. Across the console his eyes meet Donna's and he can see the happiness on her face as she pauses to catch her breath.

Then it's on again, the room filled with the sound of knees banging on the grating and chewing and swallowing. There is also the occasional yelp of disappointment as a jelly-baby slips from the grooves and disappears into the depths of the TARDIS.

The Doctor makes a mental note to go down and clean them up later. Can't have them go to waste have anything happen to his precious ship.

They come to a stop in front of the very last jelly-baby, their shoulders pressed against each other, both panting for breath.

The bright red confection stares back at them from its temporary home in the coral-coloured console.

The Doctor glances at Donna out of the corner of his eye, his nerves on edge, waiting for her to make a move so he can dive in front of her and get there first. After all, it's his TARDIS.

Still, that does make her his guest, even after all this time, so maybe...

He stares as she slowly reaches out and picks up the little red lolly.

He swallows hard as her lips part and she readies her teeth to bite off the legs, which is the end she always starts from.

Then his eyes widen as she places the jelly-baby delicately between her teeth, its legs trapped in her mouth and its head poking out. She turns to face him and leans forward slightly so that he realises exactly what she has in mind.

He moves to bite off his half of the jelly-baby, his lips touching hers at the same instant.

The kiss is sweet and sticky and fruity and flavoured with a hint of TARDIS. Absolutely perfect.

She gently breaks away and smiles at him.

"Happy Anniversary, Spaceman."