The fact that it took Gwen four days to realise she was doing things humans couldn’t was a very good indication she’d been working too hard. It was either that or sleeping. Lately, she’d taken to lying very still, attempting to concentrate and to clear her mind alternatively when even the dimmest lighting on her computer screen proved more annoying than useful.
She had a vague recollection of doctoring her right hand after stupidly punching a basement wall about a week ago. The plaster should have been more than ready to come off but Gwen winced each time she picked at it and that went double for the shrouding over every other appendage. Her eyes were exposed for sight, nose only partly showing for the apparently- shamefully necessary air she breathed, and she’d shift the cloth away from her mouth only where necessary. The rest was unthinkable to move- like skin, if she still had skin.
Somewhere in the back of her mind, Gwen had rationalised that this would be another temporary state and that finding a way home would still have to be her first priority, but that was a tiny bit of a shame as she’d discovered an immunity to pain, a nice, big golden necklace, and what was either the ability to throw objects around with her mind or a hell of a coincidence.
Her bedroom was far from the ideal resting place but it would do so long as she was undisturbed. Sadly, it couldn’t be so simple. Gwen’s red eyes widened in anticipation. She dragged herself into a standing position the moment she detected the intruder. She wasn’t quite as fast as she’d once been but, if she were lucky, she’d be able to get the door open without having to endure knocking or having the handle touched. “Get out,” she called in warning. “You won’t want to be here in a minute.”
Your Truth Is A Lie ☤ The Doctor(11), Rex, Donna, and Sam
TAGGING: The Doctor, Rex Matheson, Donna Noble, Sam Winchester
TIME FRAME: June 2, evening
LOCATION: The Impala room and The tiger’s room.
GENERAL NOTES: Rex gets a text from Jack to go and find the Doctor. What he didn’t know was that a one man trip would soon turn into a group hunting. However, once they find the Doctor, they might wish they hadn’t.
Rex would hardly admit out loud, but he had grown a bit of a soft spot for the crazy alien he'd been rooming with. The man drove him insane half the time but it didn't take much to realize that there was something just not right about the Time Lord. So when he got Jack's message, he sprang into action- and immediately started checking the more obvious places to find the Doctor first. Their room, the room with the Impala, the kitchen. All absent of the face changing alien. He knew his best bet was the lower decks then, so he circled back to the car with the impala to start from there and maybe question the grumpy owner that had been there. But when he walked in, instead of finding Dean Winchester, he nearly bumped into a much taller man.
Sam was rifling through the trunk of the Impala when he felt someone run into him, lifting his head and hitting it on the roof of the trunk, Sam groaned before standing to his full height and looking down at the other guy. "Are you lost or something?" Rubbing his head, Sam squinted at the pain that was going to come sooner or later before focusing completely on the man. Realising that he seemed impatient and in a hurry, Sam's senses sprung into action and he stood on the defensive. "What's going on?"
Rex stepped back and stared. He had made sure to know everyone on the ship, even if he hadn't spoken to them personally. But this guy was new. "Who the Hell are you?" He blurted, completely ignoring his question. At least until he knew who the guy was that was going through a vehicle that didn't belong to him.
Sam scoffed before closing the trunk and then crossing his arms over his chest as he stared at the other man. "Uh, I think I should ask who the hell are you?" Raising his brow, Sam shook his head at the other man incredulously. "Dude, you ran into me."
Rex narrowed his eyes, in anything but the mood to play games with someone. "Yeah, and I'm sorry about that. Sorta in a hurry and you're not the owner of this car the last I checked." He pointed out, rushing a half-assed apology. "Have you seen anyone else come by here in the last several minutes?" He asked, looking around him and peeking in the car as if the Doctor would actually be hiding out in there. "Oh, and I'm Rex Matheson," he added, almost as an after thought. "Deputy Director in the CIA and captain of this ship. So if you'll excuse me."
Sam warily eyed him before rolling his eyes. "Sam Winchester, this car is my brother's, Dean. So I think I have every right to be here." Cocking his jaw to the side, Sam frowned at the other before turning to look around and shrugged. "My brother was just here with a lady named Gwen and some guy called the Doctor, why you looking for any of them?" Suspicion caught on quickly as Sam began to gear up for whatever might come. "Rex, right. Nice to meet you, and uh, would you like some help looking?"
Rex nodded with narrowed his eyes, "I'm looking for the Doctor. I'd tell you what he looked like, but I would probably be wrong." He held his ground for about thirty seconds and assessed the situation before losing patience and turning to leave once he figured the guy had a point if he actually was Dean's brother. He stopped at the door when he asked if he could come along, immediately suspicious. But he was in a hurry to find his roommate, so he nodded shortly. "If you get in my way or slow me down, don't be offended if I leave you." Was all he said before walking out the door and giving an exaggerated annoyed huff when he nearly ran into Donna Noble. "What the Hell."
Sam scoffed once more before turning his head and nodding. "Yeah, I'll keep that in mind." He mumbled before securing his gun and following the other. "I heard a little bit about you from Esther on the blogs. I figured I could help, I'm a hunter back home with my brother. I've seen some crazy things and trust me, I won't get in your way if you don't get in mine." Sam rambled quickly to make sure Rex knew he wasn't some asshat country kid who didn't know his way around a weapon. However, just as they were exiting to check another room, they ran into someone else. "You got a knack for this don't you?" Smirking he looked up to greet the woman, recognition appearing on his face. "Oh hey, you're Donna right?"
Donna had just made it to the lower decks when she heard some people talking in one of the first rooms. She was a little wary of the lower part of the ship after some of the things she'd heard and knowing that the Master was there and not knowing where either of the Doctor's were had her worried enough to go searching. She stopped outside the door to try and listen enough to see who was inside before barging in, and was just about to do just that when the door opened. She took a step back, looking guilty for listening in for about ten seconds before a more determined look took over. "Yep. That's me," she nodded, offering a quick smile at Sam that didn't quite meet her eyes. "And you're Sam, yeah?" She added before turning her stare to Rex. "If you're looking for the Doctor, I'm coming with you. I'm already looking for them anyway."
Rex was a little annoyed with Sam's rambling and hoped that he didn't do that the entire time, but he was at least a little more reassured that he wouldn't be completely useless in his search for the Doctor. "Not usually," he grumbled in response to Sam's comment about his running into people and quickly brushed himself off. His eyebrows shot up when Donna informed them that she was also coming with them without much of an introduction or apology for apparently listening in on their conversation. "Hell no. No offense, but you'll only slow us down and I wasn't planning on doing this a partner let alone an entire team. You'll probably be safer if you just go back to the top deck and avoid it down here altogether."
Sam smiled back at the woman before raising his brows at her abrasive behavior and then looking back to Rex. "I don't know Rex, it might be better to go as a group than just one of us. Probably safer too. Plus, if we have to split up, we'll be able to cover more ground." Giving a shrug, Sam reached for his back pocket where he pulled out his sheathed knife and handed it to Donna. "You might need it, I heard there's a tiger down here." Looking back to Rex, Sam raised both his brows and gave him as much of an innocent expression as he could.
Donna narrowed her eyes, taking a step closer and jamming her finger into Rex's chest and moved onto her toes so that her face was closer to his. "My best friends are missing. I think they're in trouble and I'm incredibly worried. If you think you're going to be able to stop me from coming along, you've really got another thing coming." she threatened, dropping back to her heels and turning to look at Sam, a satisfied smile stretching across her face. "See, Sam here's got his head on straight." She looked down at the knife and wrinkled her nose, but gingerly accepted it anyway before pocketing it in her front jacket pocket. "Alright then. We've got a Time Lord to find." She nodded once, determinedly and moved past them to take the lead.
Rex 's eyebrows shot up when Donna advanced on him, shooting a look at Sam that mimicked betrayal. "Alright, fine. You can come." He relented, more so they could get moving rather than keep wasting time. Not that the woman needed permission, who already decided she was coming and taking lead. Shaking his head, he mumbled for Sam to "Come on" and pulled out his phone to text Jack with an update. "Okay, if he was last seen in the room we were just in, and he's not back upstairs, he had to have gone this way, so that's our best shot." he pointed in the direction that Donna was already heading, following after her a bit disgruntled.
Sam tried to keep his amusement to a minimum, especially when Rex shot him a look. However, he smiled happily towards Donna and nodded as she took the knife and then the lead. "Should we maybe be careful that something might be different? I mean, the Impala seems to stay in the same place but if you look at the walls... they're not the same as when we were just in here." Frowning, Sam pulled out his gun and began to take the safety off as he held it by his side, being careful to watch his and their backs. "Is there anything else besides the tiger we should be worried about?"
Donna scanned the walls, a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. She knew it sounded ridiculous, but she couldn't help but feel like the ship was working against them. She swallowed thickly and nodded, glancing over her shoulder at the two men. "Tiger's probably the least of our worries.."
Rex "The rooms change," he nodded, walking over to the wall and touching it with the tips of his finger and the other hand moving to rest over his gun holster, ready to yank it out at a moments notice. "And she's right..." He considered telling them what he knew about the Master, but instead his attention was drawn to the next door. "Anything could be in these rooms, so basically expect the worst."
Sam adopted a semi-annoyed expression when neither of them truly answered his question. It was almost like he was talking to his brother and Castiel. "Okay, besides the tiger, I mean, what is it specifically that we should be looking out for?" Edging close to a door that he didn't think was there before, Sam slowly reached for the handle, but stopped when Rex told him to 'basically expect the worst'. "Alright, well I found a door, so... do we want to check it out together or do you want me to head in by myself?"
Donna honestly wasn't sure what to expect. She only hoped that they'd either find one of her Doctors or the TARDIS before anything that might try to cause them harm. She really didn't want to have to use that knife sitting in her pocket. She didn't even really want to think about any circumstances that would call for the need for it. She eyed the door Sam was standing next to with narrowed eyes before nodding. "Let's just all go in together. If the rooms keep changing, it'll be easier to lose each other if we split up." And then she nodded for Sam to open he door and crept in behind him and let Rex take up the back.
The Doctor didn't hear anything at first, except for the dull rhythmic sound that seemed to echo in the back of his mind. That was until he heard voices (and not the one's that were in his mind, those were gone) but actual voices... and then footsteps! Inhaling sharply, the Time Lord replies to a series of texts from the Master before peering out from the darkness towards the group. "Er... hello? Have you come to save me?"
Rex stopped just outside the door and took another close look around, looking for anything that might be concrete and stay the same and help them find their way back if the rooms changed again while they were inside. Unsatisfied with his findings, he put a notch next to the door in the wall before following after Donna. At first all he heard was silence outside the normal creaking noises that came from the ship, but then he heard the undeniable voice of his roommate - or the voice he had probably come to most at least. "Doctor?" He called out cautiously, moving closer to the voice.
Sam was surprised when he opened the door that it was seemingly normal. He expected it to be some sort of messed up version of the ship. However, he stopped when he heard a voice and looked to Rex when he called back to it. "He's somewhere in the room. Sounds a little... Far away though. How big do you think this room is?" Lifting his head, Sam turned to Donna wondering if she might have an idea.
Donna didn't stop until she heard the familiar voice of the Doctor. Her heart sank when she registered what he said the way he sounded. Then without looking to Rex or Sam, she just nodded as if to answer Rex's question. "No idea," she shrugged at Sam's question and pushed herself forward, walking to the back of the room, that was longer than she anticipated, until she found the Doctor. "Doctor..." She murmured, kneeling down to look at him sitting on the floor. "Yeah, we're here for you. Sam and Rex... Or Clare is here too." She told him, resisting the urge to fuss over him with the memory of their last conversation still deeply rooted in her mind and unsure how he would react. But she did roll her eyes abit fondly when she corrected Rex to Clare.
The Doctor looked up a bit dazed and focused in onto Donna as she approached closer and then knelt down in front of him. "Donna? Donna Noble? Oh it is good to see you." Smiling at her, he reached up and wrapped his arms around his former companion, holding her into a tight hug that he wasn't so sure he wanted to let go of. Though when it registered that she said Rex and Sam were there, he pulled back and searched her face. "Clare's here? So he does miss me. Wait-who's Sam?"
Rex blinked, stopping briefly when Donna suddenly rushed forward, leaving him and Sam behind. He shot a glare at Sam as if it were his fault and grumbled under his breath before following behind her. He didn't hear any screams so he took that as a good sign. And then he heard more of their voices and let out a breath of relief. He couldn't even be bothered by the use of Clare when he heard it. "What happened to you, Doctor?" He asked, furrowing his eyebrows together and examining the surrounding area looking for any signs of struggle.
Sam watched silently as Donna moved past both him and Rex. He waited for Rex to move before following him, but not before giving him a glared look for silently blaming him for it all. Quietly he listened to the conversation that was going on, and smiled lightly when he heard his name come up. "Sam Winchester, Dean's younger brother. I'm uh... Just here to lend an extra hand." He paused and surveyed the scene before him. "Its nice to meet you Doctor. I've heard a lot of good things about you."
Donna gasped when the Doctor lunged in for a hug, but easily wrapped her arms around him as well and holding him tightly, relieved that he was safe- or that he at least appeared safe. She nodded without looking back to check that they had followed, sure that they had. And sure enough before he could answer about Sam, she heard him answer for himself. With a nod, she pointed her finger behind her at the two men without letting go of him with her other hand. "I was just about to ask the same question myself," she nodded in reference to Rex's question, locking her gaze on her friend before pursing her lips together.
The Doctor listened to what Sam had to say before smiling and nodding at him. "Dan's brother! Oh wonderful, wonderful. Glad you could join us." He continued to hold his cheerful nature before looking towards Rex and then finally resting his gaze onto Donna, practically begging her with a look. "I have met an old friend here and he isn't good. He won't stop until he finds the TARDIS and other Doctor. Please help me find my Metacrisis and my ship because they are both in grave danger." He knew he was lying, and in order for him to be convincing he had to weave in some truth to it. "Donna, please. I'm begging you."
Rex narrowed his eyes and mouthed 'Dan?' Before shaking his head and leaning a little closer and listened intently to what the Doctor was saying even though it was clear he was only talking to Donna. Immediately he pulled out his phone and sent Jack a quick text, letting him know what he just heard hoping he'd get the message in time since he knew Jack was already looking for the Metacrisis as they all spoke. "Jack's looking for him now," he spoke up. "He won't let anything happen to him."
Sam had only met the other doctor through the blogs and heard of Jack from others. But he knew enough to know that the two of them were in some sort of serious danger. Glancing around, the hunter moved closer towards Donna and the Doctor before asking his question. "Can I ask what sort of danger they're in?" Another question passed through his mind when he thought about what a TARDIS was, but he didn't want to seem to quizzical so he resorted to asking later about it.
Donna felt her heart sink and gulped as she kept her eyes trained on the Doctor. The look on his face alone was enough to break her heart, but what words accompanied that look made her arms weak as the worry that had been troubling her already basically doubled. She plastered on a fake smile and nodded when Rex spoke up. "See, he's going to be okay," she attempted, though she wasn't completely reassured herself. "And I'll help too. We'll find him."
The Doctor frowned at Rex's words before slowly nodding. "Jack's a good lad, but I don't know if he's a match for..." he paused and narrowed his gaze as he looked up towards Sam. "An old friend of mine that lost his way. He's very dangerous and he can and will harm anyone and anything that crosses his path. My advice is to never trust a thing he says." Slowly, he pulled himself to his feet, steadying his weight on Donna and then offering a hand to pull her up. "We'll need to find him quickly. The Master just left."
Rex moved back enough to give the Doctor room when he stood up, ready to offer a hand if he needed it. "I've already become ... Acquainted with this guy and he's right. He's dangerous and ruthless. He's already made it clear to me when he -- he's made it clear he's not here to make friends." He added, correcting himself before slipping that the Master had already killed him once, not wanting to freak anyone out when tensions were already high.
Sam listened intently when the Doctor finally addressed the real problem that was going on with the ship. He knew how friends could turn enemies and he knew that they would be just as influential as they once were. Grimmacing, Sam nodded towards the group. "Well you guys check it out, I'm going to head back and talk to my brother about all of this."
Donna frowned, edging to the side a bit so that she was standing somewhat protectively in front of the Doctor subconsciously and still able to look between all three of them. She nodded at Sam before glancing up at the Doctor, the look on her face making it clear to all of them that she wasn't leaving him anytime soon. "We'll find the other Doctor and if you see anything, you let us know, alright?" She instructed, pulling out her phone to give her number to Sam really quick before he parted ways.
The Doctor reached out and took Donna's hand. It was as familiar as it was strange, and although he knew that she'd possibly hate him later, at least in this moment it felt comforting to have her there. Giving a small smile to Sam who genuinely did seem to want to help, the Doctor nodded at his departure. But it was Rex's words that caused the Time Lord to stare directly at him. "I'm so sorry for what he's done to you. We'll make it right."
Rex nodded in agreement with Donna and waved with a silent offer of thanks towards Sam before he left. Despite being against it at first, he was genuinely glad that the two of them ended up joining him. He knew through the grapevine that Dean would be a good asset on their side. When he slid his gaze back to the Doctor, he shrugged. "Damn right we will. But don't worry about it, it's not your fault." Then clapping his hands together, he dug into his pocket to shoot Jack one last quick update before pointing his finger toward the door. "Let's find us a Metacrisis."
GENERAL NOTES: The Doctor decides to take a stroll of the ship and then stop by to see Donna. Words are said, and the Doctor learns that Donna can hit.
The Doctor decided that he wanted to go for a stroll on the ship. Passing by room ten, he glanced at it before continuing on. After spending about an hour exploring (and still not finding the TARDIS) , he circled back and came back towards the hall that housed the rooms. As he was about to enter his and Clare-Rex's room, he paused in front of room ten and stared at the door for a long couple of minutes before reaching up and knocking rather loudly. "Other me? Donna? Hello! It's me, the Doctor!"
Donna was in the shared bathroom, fixing her hair. More out of boredom than actual need. Though the air on that boat did absolutely nothing for her hair, but that was besides the point. She dropped her brush, peaking out the door of the bathroom when she heard someone at the door, listening for a voice before walking over to it and opening the door. "Just me!" She grinned, stepping back to give the Doctor some room if he planned on joining her. "Come on in!"
The Doctor entered the room as soon as Donna called out to him and opened the door. "Donna Noble! How are you?" Grinning, the Time Lord reached up and ruffled her hair. "Nice hair! Looks great, you should keep it this way." Taking a glance of the room, the Doctor moved over to the bed he assumed was hers and flopped down on it. "How's it hanging? Still floating?"
Donna tried to duck away from the Doctor's hand too late, and wrinkled her nose when he ruffled it, muttering an "Oi!" as she reached up to smooth it out. "Thanks, but it's been so frizzy. I don't like it." Her frown didn't stay however as she watched the Doctor make himself at home on her bed, instead she just rolled her eyes and moved to sit on the edge of Doc's bed. "Obviously," She drawled, lifting her arms to pointedly show that she was sitting there right in front of him. "It's cramped and it rocks too much, but at least we are floating."
The Doctor stared at Donna blankly for a few moments before spreading his lips into a wide, childish grin. "It could be a submarine, a few fixes here and there and I'm sure I can get this ship to sink!" He looked around with widened eyes as he analysed the different things he could do to improve the ship's interior and exterior. All of things he was nearly positive that Donna wouldn't allow him to do... or any companion for that matter. "How's other Doctor been? Not lying to you, I hope. Or maybe he has been. Who knows with him. Clare's doing fine, though he's still not happy with me for some reason. Maybe I should introduce him to your Mum, Clare might become your Stepdad someday!"
Donna widened her eyes, immediately shaking her head no. "No, no, no. Please don't. I think you misunderstood. I'm rather happy to not be under water right now. If like it to stay that way." After hearing about what the a doctor had done to his own ship, she thought it was a legitimate fear to think about what he could do the ship they were all living on if he put his mind to it. "He's doing alright," she started, preparing herself to get into the conversations she'd been working on talking to the Doctor about anyway. The only thing that had been holding her up was figuring out how to properly approach it, knowing it was a delicate subject. "I dunno why you think he'd ever lie to me. But now that you mention it, he has been worried about you, y' know." She told him, glancing toward the door before giving the Doctor a meaningful look. "I have been too." She added, before briefly being distracted by the stepdad comment that she'd initially looked over. "Oh, don't. If he really is like my mum, one of them at a time is enough."
The Doctor blinked back a surprised look when Donna quickly told him to not make repairs to the ship. "Fine, but if you need something fixed, don't come asking me!" Frowning and clearly throwing a fit, the Time Lord crossed his arms over his chest and stared at his former companion. "Because he has his reasons to. Same with me, same with you. Same with anyone, really." Comically frowning and shaking his head to dismiss their worry, the Doctor made a "bah" sound before slumping into a grumpy funk. "I'm fine. Stop worrying. I just need to find my ship." Holding his grumpy look for a bit longer, the Time Lord lightened up a little bit and gave Donna a small smile. "Admit it, you'd love to have Clare as your Stepdad."
Donna pressed her lips together, watching the Doctor closely and frowning when he did. "I'm not going to stop worrying about you, especially when you're giving me good reason to," she pointed out, crossing her arms across her own chest. "Besides, I can't help but always worry about you at least a little." It didn't help that easily noted how defensive he'd gotten. Wrinkling her nose, she shook her head distractedly. "No, I don't think I would. Something tells me Rex isn't a hurry to have a new step daughter either.."
The Doctor sneered at Donna for a moment before carefully examining her every move. "I'm doing nothing of the sort to cause you to worry." He was getting irritated and the looming insanity that had brought upon him during his fight with his Metacrisis was quickly coming back in full force. "I'm fine," he repeated again, this time a little more pointedly and with a hint of anger to his tone. "Well what would you know? You're not a Time Lord. Not anymore." As soon as it left his lips, the Doctor widened his eyes and stared over at her with an apologetic fear.
Donna immediately pursed her lips together unhappily when she caught the Doctor's sneer and narrowed her eyes at him before taking a step closer to him. She opened her mouth to shoot back a quick retort about him not doing anything that needed worrying over, but then he was talking again and her retort got caught in the back of her throat. A flash of anger and hurt crossed her face as she lifted her hand and smacked him across the face without even thinking about it.
The Doctor began to shake his head in and open his lips to utter an apology but it was too late. The sound bit his ears before the whiplash of his neck and the pain set in. Shaking his head to shove off the pain, the Doctor reached up to rub his cheek where she'd smacked him. "Guess I deserved that." Mumbling, the Time Lord looked up and met her eyes, while narrowing his. "I'm surprised you even remembered any of this. Given your track record with memory."
Donna set her jaw, narrowing her eyes at the Doctor, ignoring the sadness that was settling in from the entire situation as much as she could. But the Doctor's next comment hit her like a wall of bricks. Her mouth fell open in surprise, and her eyes almost immediately stung with tears and she lifted her hand and slapped him across the cheek again. "How dare you." She snapped, glaring at him. "And who's fault was that?" She snapped, instantly regretting the words as soon as they left her mouth. She never blamed the Doctor for any of that that had happened to her and blaming him now when he was obviously not okay was definitely not going to help anything. But she couldn't think of anything else to say to cover it up, and that just made her more frustrated because Donna always had something to say.
The Doctor knew that once the insanity had set in, he wouldn't be able to come back from it without much difficulty. However, hearing the heartbreak and anger in Donna's voice and then the truth from her on where the blame belonged, the Time Lord flashed a look of true grief and regret before shielding his face from her. "Mine. Always mine." He mumbled before moving to stand up from the bed. Straightening his jacket and running his hand through his hair to straighten it back, the Time Lord coughed into his hand and then rubbed his cheek. "I realise now that coming here has been a mistake, I should go."
Donna swallowed thickly, immediately shaking her head. "I didn't mean that," she said, immediately backtracking as soon as he heard the Doctor mutter that it had been his fault. This hadn't gone nearly as well as she hoped and she couldn't help but feel like she was letting down both of the Doctors. "You don't have to go, Doctor." She said softly, even as she moved out of his way, knowing that he'd already made up his mind. "Sorry," she muttered, wincing when she saw the redness to his cheek, even if she did still think he deserved both of them, the hurt from his words still stinging in a way that made her think maybe it was a good idea for him to leave to give them both time to calm down from that.
TIME FRAME: Evening, shortly after arriving on the Boat
LOCATION: Room 10
SUMMARY: “You’re not mating with me, sunshine.” Donna picks a room. John crashes the party. And there is gossip about the Doctor.
Donna was a little shaken after waking up on a ship. Or was it a boat? She honestly wasn't sure the difference. Either way, it wasn't the house she'd been living in and they were all afloat now with no sign of land in any direction, minus the spare tree top. Which suggested that the rain had continued to fall rapidly and now they were all floating above the endless woods of the Pocket. There were plenty of questions that needed answered, but going off the few faces she did see when she started to roam, everyone looked as confused as she did and the first thing she wanted to take care of was finding a place to sleep. Working quickly to reserve a bed would mean more to choose from. She wasn't sure how she would handle seasickness, so she tried to pick a side of the ship (boat?) that she thought might rock less -- a room in the middle. The door had a big ten on it, and she couldn't help but smirk slightly to herself as she went in, and immediately claimed her bed.
John had spent some time very quickly exploring the ship, after establishing that (a) everyone from the Pocket seemed to have been transported aboard, and (b) there wasn't very much in the way of an alternative unless one intended to swim forever. He located the TARDIR in the lowest deck, and decided that a top priority was finding a room that he could keep her in. He didn't trust the Doctor in his current mood, and the thought of sharing a room with Rose made his hearts ache. No, let Rose stay with the Doctor, or something. He didn't think he could face it. Then there was the possibility of sharing a room with Tosh, except that Rose was here, and honestly, that was a mess he didn't even want to get into right now. So when he saw Donna moving into room ten, he realised that he'd just found the perfect solution to his dilemma. Snagging the TARDIR (now disguised as a large treasure chest), and several other large suitcases, he thumped his way into the room and shot Donna a bright grin. "Hello!" he chirped. "I'm moving in, and--" he just couldn't resist adding, "--I just wanna mate."
Donna had barely sat down on the bed when someone else walked in the room, and she jumped slightly at the intrusion until she saw who it was and immediately relaxed. A grin spread across her face as she stood up, but then she was rolling her eyes at his comment about wanting a mate. "Well, you're certainly not mating with me, Sunshine," she smirked, with a pointed eyebrow raise at him as she crossed the room and grabbed hold of one of his suitcases before tossing it on the spare bed. "If you're staying in here with me, you get that bed. I've already claimed mine and grown attached to it... In the last two minutes."
John grinned broadly before dragging the treasure chest to a corner of the room with more care than he'd handled the suitcases, and sat down on her, swinging his legs. "Oh, that's fine. I hope you don't mind another roommate, by the way." He patted the treasure chest fondly. "Fortunately, she doesn't take up much space." Glancing around the room - which was really rather small - he sprang up to peer out of the tiny porthole, seeing nothing but water everywhere. "Well, this is comfy. At least it's stopped raining - though this boat could stand to be a lot bigger on the inside."
Donna sat back on the edge of her bed gingerly, leaning forward slightly to get a better look at the treasure chest, grinning when she realized what it was. "Oh, that's brilliant. I think I like this look a lot better than the potted plant. Very clever," she mused before sitting up and following his gaze toward the little porthole in the wall that she'd quite frankly, been avoiding. She'd seen enough water to last a lifetime. "Ha! That would be nice. As of now, I'm not sure comfy is the word I'd use for this, but at least it's dry? And we can see. There's also that." She nodded, looking around the room with distaste, using a lot of effort to actually compliment it.
John didn't quite manage to stifle his laughter at the look of disaster on Donna's face. "We've been through worse," he said. "Getting locked up in a container full of red eyed Ood? Stuck in Pompeii on volcano day?" He nodded at her leg. "How's the leg, anyway? Wouldn't want you tripping around on it and hurting it again." Dropping into the bed, he sprawled out, tucking his arms behind his head. "You know... I never asked. How were your folks? Before you left and turned up here, I mean."
Donna wrinkled her nose, but she couldn't hide the somewhat fond smile either from the memories and shook her head. "I was going to point out that we at least had the TARDIS then, but at the time, we didn't think we'd make it back to her, so it's a moot point." She swung her leg off the side of the bed and glanced down at it. "It still feels weird, and gets a bit sore. Probably from lack of use more than anything. 'Least that's what Martha and Rory keep telling me. They insist I'm fine," there was a hint of disbelief in her tone, despite trusting each one of the medical professionals completely. She picked at the thin blanket covering the cot and shrugged. "They're doing alright. They always seemed a bit off at times when I'd fall ill, but now I think I understand." She didn't explain further, but pointed at her head, figuring he'd get the point. "I think my granddad misses you though."
John smiled with a twinge of sadness, thinking about the TARDIS. "Here," he said, jumping out of bed and pulling out his stethoscope in a bid to distract himself from that train of thought. "Let me see." Kneeling down beside the bed, he pressed the stethoscope to Donna's leg and had a listen. "Between the healing and the lack of use, the muscles are all stiff, yeah," he confirmed. "I could give you a massage if you like." Tucking the stethoscope back into his bigger on the inside pockets, he glanced up at her. "Good old Wilf," he said, with a smile. "Do you miss him?" He paused, then circled delicately around towards a topic that he'd been building up towards, "Do you miss home, for that matter?"
Donna raised an eyebrow at her friend when he approached her, but let him listen to her leg anyway. Both her eyebrows shot up when he offered to give her a massage, and while a massage actually sounded great, she shook her head. "Maybe later." Her expression softened as the conversation shifted back to home. "I do," she nodded. "Of course I do." She chewed on her bottom lip and looked out the small window in the room, her thoughts drifting back to what her family must be doing. She imagined her granddad sneaking treats into the car behind her mum's back as they spoke, going on about some sort of theory about the new government. She blinked herself back to the present and looked over at him, twisting her lips. "I miss them all the time.. And Shaun. But is it bad that I don't really miss that life?"
John stood, pacing around to the porthole. He was silent for a moment as Donna spoke, before half turning towards her with the ghost of a smile. "Sort of the way I felt about Gallifrey," he murmured. Turning his gaze back on the view outside, he let the smile drop off his face again. "I don't know how to get you home," he admitted bluntly, frustration leaking into his voice. "I don't know how to get anyone home."
Donna pressed her lips together into a something that could have been conceived as both a smile or a frown and tilted her head to the side because she should have known that he would get it. She couldn't help it when her face fell a bit though with his admission, but she immediately stood up to stand next to him and placed her hand on his arm. She didn't want to admit that she already suspected that the Doctors wouldn't be able to get them out of this. "It doesn't have to be all on you, you know?" She said instead and then she glanced back to the TARDIR in the room. "And maybe she will be of some help when she's full grown."
John hadn't meant for the conversation to go this way, but it was something that had been building for a while, and perhaps it was the fact that it was Donna - his best mate, the one who had helped him through innumerable bad patches - that forced the kind of honesty out of him that he normally went to great pains to avoid. "Isn't it?" he said, a little bitterly. "And now... now there's something wrong with the Doctor, and I think I know what it is, but I have no idea how to fix it." He ran a hand through his hair, making it stand up even more than usual. "Donna, I--" he tried to hold back the outburst, but it slipped out anyway. "I'm stuck, and I hate being stuck." Immediately regretting it, he turned his attention on the TARDIR as a form of distraction. "Oh yes, she's a beauty, isn't she? Between her and the TARDIS we can maybe try... something, at least."
Donna looked away so he wouldn't see her wince at his retort, and started to say something else on the matter but was immediately distracted by the comment about the Doctor. "What d'you mean something's wrong with the Doctor? What's wrong with him?" Her forehead creased together, immediately thinking back to all of her interactions with the Doctor recently. She was pulled from her thoughts however with his outburst and she instantly looked back up at him, her complete focus on him where it needed to be in that moment. "We won't be stuck forever," she said confidently, keeping her gaze on him even as he looked back at the TARDIR. "I think any universe knows better than to keep you stuck for too long. And it might be longer than anyone wants, but I do believe that TARDIR of yours will help. You're the Doctor, and she's your ship. A thing will happen."
John sighed, his shoulders slumping. "He's stuck too, and I think it's wearing on him. Plus, he's getting old. And I mean old, old. Like ... possibly Time Lord version of senile old." He didn't even bother to hide how much that troubled him. "Did I ever tell you that Time Lords only get 13 regenerations? The reason - the theory, anyway - behind that is that we get mentally unstable if we push it beyond that." Thunking his head against the glass, he pulled back with a small 'ow'. "He trashed the TARDIS. Actually tried to hurt her. Then threatened me when I said I'd stop him." Something in him relaxed when Donna spoke, her sensible words drawing him back from the darkness of his thoughts, and the advancement of the possibility of using the TARDIR - something he hadn't even considered - giving him a new perspective on the situation. "A 'thing', eh?" he said, with a tiny smile. "Good thing I'm good at things."
Donna frowned, glancing over at the wall that she knew connected to the Doctor's room. She searched her memory for a time the Doctor told her that, because it did ring a bell now that he'd mention it, but she wasn't sure if she was remembering him tell her that or remembering from when she was inside his head... Her frown deepened as she lifted her eyes back to the Doctor in front of her, wincing when he thunked his head on the window. "Oi, careful. Now what did that solve?" She scolded, though her voice was still laced with concern. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise before realization dawned on her and she felt guilty for not having followed her instinct and checked in on him when she initially thought something was up -- cast or not. "The butterfly room." She muttered, more to herself and shook her head, now worried about both of the Doctors. Not that she hadn't been before, but then it was just the normal amount of worrying she did for them. Watching her friend relax though did a number on her ability to relax, and she gave a nod. "Exactly. I don't know anyone else who's as good at 'things' as you are."
John rubbed at his forehead, muttering, "Many things," before catching Donna's eye and deciding honesty was the best policy. "Fine, fine," he said. "Won't do it again. And yes, the butterfly room. It's not finding the butterfly room that's the problem, it's the fact that he ripped apart half of the TARDIS to do so." He shook his head. "He's probably just as frustrated - if not more frustrated - than I am, at being stuck here. Still, it's worrying." He took a breath, sticking his hands into his pockets. "You know me best, Donna. Do you think you'd be able to talk him out of it?"
Donna cringed imagining the TARDIS all torn apart, especially at the hands of the Doctor who she knew loved that ship more than anything. She chewed on her bottom lip, averting her gaze for a moment before nodding, lifting her eyes to meet his gaze. "Y'know you're not exactly always the easiest person to talk to," she teased, poking him in the chest. "But I'll definitely do my best." She promised.
John mimed a terribly offended look. "Oi! I'm perfectly easy to talk to. Look, I talk all the time, even when you don't want me to. Talking, it's what this gob is good at. Next gob's good at it too." Smiling, he relaxed a little, trusting that if anyone would be able to help the Doctor, it was his best mate. "Well, then, Donna Noble. I'll leave it in your good hands," he said, winking.
It was funny how he could get cabin fever aboard the TARDIS. A ship that was larger on the inside, dimensionally transcendent, and possibly limitless. But after a few days (close to an entire week!) of being stuck in his bedroom, he was just about climbing the walls.
Not literally, of course. Literally, he was lying on his back staring at the ceiling.
Still, the boredom was eating away at him, and the desire to move was growing ever stronger, so when Jack told him that the snow was melting, he knew that he just had to get out of the ship and savour the remainder of the snow.
He'd been out of the TARDIS for all of five minutes before he realised that this was probably a bad idea. Walking was bad enough - trekking through deep snow that was turning slushy was enough to leave him winded and exhausted. He'd thought to cut across town, from the South neighbourhood to the town hall, but he'd barely reached the park before he was flagging.
Leaning against a tree, he slumped, trying to catch his breath. His ribs and his lung still didn't seem to want to work properly, and he could feel the injured heart protesting the strain. Still, he was out, and that was the most important thing. The snow was still pristine - there weren't enough people in the Pocket to trample it into brown mud, and the sky was so blue, and the sun was out. All in, it was a fantastic day.
Wrapping his coat more tightly around him, he took a few more steps, then gave up moving as a bad job as even that amount of exertion winded him. He opted to flop onto his back in the snow instead, folding his arms behind him and staring up at the sky with a happy smile on his face. The Pocket was safe, Jack was back to normal, and it was a great day. Really, what more could he ask for?
