Donna Noble (oyspaceman) wrote in saveatlantisic, @ 2016-12-02 12:13:00 |
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Each Companion that arrived was a bittersweet experience. The Doctor would initially be elated, but quickly reality sunk in: the Companions of his past weren’t familiar with his current regeneration, they would see him as a different person. Even Rose, who had actually been present when he regenerated and had come to accept him, seemed to be disappointed that he wasn’t the Doctor she knew before. The only ones the Doctor felt were the exception was Jack and the Master.
Even when his Companions in Atlantis did accept him, the Doctor still had to live with the knowledge of what happened to them in their futures, and none of them were very good. Donna had been a prime example of this case. What he had to do to her was extreme, but it was either erase her memories of the time they’d spent together, or have her die. Donna’s death on his conscious would be unbearable, so he didn’t regret what he did. But what would Donna say if she found out? In Atlantis, it was entirely possible that she could. Knocking at her door, he masked his emotions behind a stoic face, but as soon as it opened and he saw her again, his resolve melted away and was replaced by a more worrisome expression. Eyebrows rose high and he greeted her, “Hello, Donna.” Donna was still staring at the messages on the device when the knock came, breaking her concentration. Honestly, she wasn’t sure what to think of all this, because it was all a lot to take in at once. She was still reeling with her best friend having died in some other dimension because she hadn’t been with him, only to come here to discover that not only had he definitely in fact died in her own dimension, but it had happened twice, and he was apparently the same...but not, also. Leaving the tablet on the bed, Donna walked to the door and steeled herself, then pulled it open. And that face - the man whose family she’d convinced him to save in Pompeii - that was even stranger, really. She wanted to yell, and she wanted to question, well, everything, but then she looked into his eyes and knew. It was him. “Doctor…” Before she’d finished saying the word, the redheaded woman stepped forward and drew him into a tight hug. “It is you.” Frankly, the Doctor rather expected a good yelling to from Donna, and had seen the momentary look on her face that prepared him, so the way she suddenly changed course took him by surprise. This regeneration was still awkward with physical contact, so at first he let his arms dangle behind her before hesitantly returning the hug, chin resting upon her shoulder, a frown on his face that she couldn’t see. The words that first came out of his mouth was low enough for only her to hear, a mumbled, “Thank you,” spoken out of relief. He drew out of the embrace and made a show of looking at her back. “No giant bugs. That’s a good sign. I’m glad to see you. I’m ah… sure you have a lot of questions.” Hearing him thank her caused her to smile a little, and she shut her eyes briefly. He was still too skinny, but there were differences, and she barely had a chance to register them before he drew away as she opened her eyes. A tension she hadn’t been aware of left her shoulders and she let out a loud sigh of relief. “Well that’s good to hear! I swear I feel like I can still feel that thing’s legs on my shoulders.” She shuddered dramatically, then drew him into the room while shutting the door. “Yes, first - does this have anything to do with that message from...from Rose? Bad wolf? Is that what all this is about? And what does it mean, because the only bad wolf I know of couldn’t blow down a house of bricks to get to the pig inside. Are we really in Atlantis? I thought it was supposed to be under the Atlantic somewhere? Are we on Earth again?” Donna’s rapid fire questions made him smile a little before he set to answering. “This has nothing to do with the Bad Wolf message. It’s a completely different set of circumstances, which I’m still piecing together. I’m still not clear on who brought us together, or even how, but as far as fighting a war is concerned, I’ve been here for nearly a month and haven’t seen even a hint of a battle. So far, it’s actually been pretty peaceful.” The Doctor wandered further into the flat, looking over the room before sitting upon one of the chairs in the bedroom area. “We’re in Atlantis, but an Atlantis in a different universe. I’ve been to the Atlantis in our universe, and it’s like what you imagine, underwater, As far as I can tell, this place isn’t just in its own universe… it is its own universe, a convergence of all the universes, simultaneously everywhere and nowhere at once. Fascinating, actually.” “A month? Well, god only knows what trouble you’ve been up to since without me here to get you out of it.” She shook her head and while her words sounded confident, inside Donna felt a bit of trepidation. After all, it already sounded as though things had happened to him that she wasn’t a part of, and she wondered just why that was...and where her place would be in all of this. “But peaceful is good, at least. So you’ve been having another vacation, have you?” Donna sank onto the edge of the bed closest to him, still studying his face as he talked. He even sounded different, which would take a little getting used to. “But I thought you said that bouncing about through different universes wasn’t a wise thing to do. You made it sound as though universe hopping was far worse than what you normally do.” “You could call it a vacation,” the Doctor replied. “The TARDIS isn’t here, so we can’t travel about, but there’s certainly enough things happening to create a distraction.” He turned his head and stared blankly out the window at nothing in particular while his thoughts drifted. “And it’s the distractions that make me wonder,” he confessed. “What are they distracting us from?” He returned his attention to Donna. “We’re welcome to tell the Forces that Keep Us Here that we want to go home, and a few people already have, without a problem.” A mischievous smile played upon his face. “I’m sticking around because I love a good mystery.” He crossed his legs as he sat back to continue, “It is!” he said, enthusiastically. “Very dangerous. Which makes it all the more of a mystery. Because the ones who brought us here are shamelessly breaking all the rules, without any consequences. At least none that I can tell. By the way, be prepared to meet your favorite television, movie, or literary figure here.” He scratched an area behind his right ear. “It turns out that fictional characters from Earth in our universe are real in other universes. Conversely, we’re known as fiction to a lot of people that were brought here. We have our own program on the telly and everything. So I’m told.” “You’re still a great big, outer space dunce - who can’t even hold onto his box, now. It has to be here somewhere, hasn’t it?” Donna tilted her head when he mentioned the distractions, and she nodded. “Who’s in charge here? Do you know how they brought us? They said I could go back, but clearly I can’t if you’re here and there are others in trouble around this place. If there is a mystery, then what have you found out so far? Is Agatha here, then?” When the Doctor said there were fictional people there, and that they were on a program, Donna blinked in surprise, then burst out laughing. “You can’t be serious - that couldn’t be possible. Right?” Donna had a way of being sassy was all her own, and internally the he was pleased to be the subject of her insults once again. For a brief moment, he smiled to show his pleasure, but he knew the best way to reciprocate was to sass right back. “Hey!” he said, suddenly becoming defensive, pointing a finger at Donna. “If you can find the TARDIS, be my guest. Then again, what would I know?” he added, throwing up his hands and using thick sarcasm. “I’ve only been here for about a month and you only just arrived!” The Doctor then fell silent before seriously answering, “I don’t know how we were brought, but it’s got to be an advanced technology. With as many people from different universes that are gathered here, you’d think there were tears in the fabric of Time and Space so large you could drive a lorry through, but there’s not even so much as a wrinkle. I have noticed that people show up primarily on Wednesdays and Sundays, so there’s some sort of schedule going on. “As for the people in charge,” the Doctor fidgeted upon his seat, revealing through body language that he was uncomfortable with what he was going to say next, “They haven’t revealed themselves yet. I’ve done some asking around, and poking, but so far, nothing. I could be more aggressive in my snooping, but … I don’t want to run the risk of sending me back home for causing a disturbance. Not before the mystery is solved and this war is over.” The Doctor didn’t like to admit his incompetence, but much more than that, didn’t want to confess the other reason he didn’t want to be sent home was because he didn’t want to leave the company of all his past Companions now that he was settled in, despite all the melancholy memories tied to them. To answer Donna’s astonishment, the Doctor simply shrugged and told her, “Anything is possible in a multi-universe. I myself one was sucked into an alternative universe where I not only found out I was known as a fictional character, but I got to meet the actor who portrayed me on the telly. A dead ringer, too. I even suggested the actor who might play me in my next regeneration.” “Do you really think they would send you back against your will? Though I guess they could if they brought you here.” Donna frowned, but recognized the fact that he wasn’t happy about not knowing the answer to her questions - and she suspected he was more upset than he let on about the absence of his ship, and inwardly she reminded herself to go a little easier on him. When he explained further about fictional people, Donna shook her head again, but stared at him. “That doesn’t sound like it could even possibly be real,” she pointed out. “And what do you mean, we have our own program? We’re on the telly - do I even look like me?” It still sounded completely unbelievable, but she’d learned over the past several months that she often had to suspend her disbelief around him. “So what do you do here besides try not getting into trouble and running around about this mystery?” “I haven’t watched the program myself,” the Doctor explained, “I’ve been told it’s pretty good. It doesn’t show everything we’ve done together… that would take far too long, and nobody wants to watch you sleep… but the bits that they do show are pretty spot on with details. Yes, you’ll look like you and sound like you and act like you. You’re also going to find people here from the world of Harry Potter, and Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, and even Les Miz. Though the Les Miz people don’t sing everything they speak, that’s a disappointment. Oh, that reminds me… the man you were chatting up on the Network, the one who called himself Saxon? Be careful of him, he’s not to be trusted.” The Doctor continued, “They’ve assigned everybody a job while we’re here. I’m working at some repair shop, with has me tinkering with things. That’s cool, even if it is child’s play.” It wasn’t anywhere near as difficult as repairing the TARDIS whenever she had a malfunction. “But there’s a lot of extracurricular activities offered like… urm…. there was a Guy Fawkes bonfire the weekend I arrived, and last weekend I went on a camping trip to the mountains with a bunch of other Companions and the cast of Star Trek. Saw unicorns… you would’ve like that.“ “Well that’s good, because it’d be bloody creepy to have anyone see me while I’m sleeping like that.” But it was still odd to think of them being on a television show...so much of what she and the Doctor had gone through was, well, private. Intimate. Not something she’d want to share with just anyone. As she paid attention to what he was saying, Donna shook her head in wonder, barely able to comprehend it all. Meeting Agatha Christie had been amazing enough - but actually meeting the characters from stories she’d grown up with, or known all her life? That was just too strange….and thrilling, all at once. “You do know that musical was based on a book, right? A bloody boring book, but a book just the same. Not everyone goes around just bursting into song whenever they feel like it. Saxon - you mean Harold? What’s wrong with him, then, that he’s so dangerous?” The thought of him working in a repair shop made Donna laugh. “That’s a good place for you. Me, they said I’m an office manager..which is a rather large step up from temp, thank God. I never really celebrated Guy Fawkes day - it wasn’t a day I was ever that interested in, so I don’t mind having missed it here. Other Companions? Like Rose and Jack?” The fact that she had missed that was actually rather disappointing. “Oh, I know it was a book. I met the author. Bloody boring man. Didn’t take my editing advice.” The Doctor didn’t know what was more annoying, being boring, or having somebody not listen to him. “So they might be from the book, but they look like they did in the film. Oh wait. You haven’t seen the film yet, that’s in your future. Never mind. I’ve never been a fan of entertainment that makes you want to throw yourself off a tall building, afterward. “Yes, exactly Rose and Jack. And a few others you’ve never met before. I’ll have to introduce you. Amy and Rory and their newborn baby Melody, who grows up to River Song, who is also here.” Time Travel - gotta love it! “There’s also Clara, who is from our universe. I met her briefly once, but we never traveled together.” As for Harold, the Doctor pinched the bridge of his nose to collect himself together before continuing. “Harold Saxon is an alias, the same way I sometimes use the name, John Smith. His real name is the Master, and he’s a Time Lord like me. We grew up together, but he took a dark path. He had an implant placed inside his brain to help them escape the Time Lock forced upon them by the Time War, but it drove him mad. He’s done many abominable things, but somebody here has helped to silence the implant so he’s… better? But I still wouldn’t trust him. He’d love to get to me, and he knows the best way to do that is through my Companions, like you.” “Of course you did,” Donna said about him meeting Victor Hugo, rolling her eyes good naturedly, while inwardly she wished she could have, as well. She blinked at his next words, however, mouth dropping open. “There’s a film? Of the musical? I have got to see that! And don’t you go all ‘spoilers’ at me, because I’ve seen it on stage and know how the story goes.” As he listed out the names of the other companions, she didn’t recognize them, which was a little frustrating - and disappointing. Donna resolved not to complain, however - and reminded herself that she did indeed like all this uncertainty and new experiences that were occurring. In fact, the thing she didn’t like most right now was the prospect of being stuck in one place for too long. She’d chosen to travel with the Doctor so that she could travel and see things - not remain on some lost island somewhere. As he explained about Harold, Donna’s eyes widened slowly. “...He’s like you? I thought you were the last…” Donna trailed off while he continued, and by the end, her eyes had narrowed. “Well. If he thinks that I’ll lay down and let him ‘get at you,’ he can stuff it. I’m not one of those girls you take around, and he’ll bloody well get used to the fact that I’m not going to let him walk all over me.” Impulsively, Donna reached over and hugged him again, hard. “Don’t worry so much, Doctor - it’ll age you even more. And you are still entirely too skinny, for the record.” “I’m not the last,” the Doctor reluctantly explained. “It’s a little more complicated than that. There’s a lot of information I need to tell you to get you up to date.” The way Donna became simultaneously indignant and protective in her very characteristic Donna way, made the Doctor happy: for a moment, it felt like old times. But her spontaneous hug was unexpected. “Er… one hug a day is my quota, that’s enough, thanks.” He gave her a smile, though. “There’s a shop nearby that sells the most brilliant pastries, if you feel like helping me to put on a bit more weight? Let’s get out of here. There’s all of Atlantis to explore.” |