Triptych 1/10
Donna stood alone in the control room, turning dials and flipping switches. The best part about being a Time Lady, she decided, definitely had to be being able to pilot the TARDIS by herself.
She lay her palm on the console and spoke aloud. "The Doctor and I need to celebrate, girl. Any suggestions?"
The TARDIS - well, the only real word that described the sound she made was "purred". Lists of planets and times appeared on the screen.
Donna smiled. "Thank you." She petted the console like a cat. "I'll let him pick the place."
With the flick of a couple of switches, a hard copy printout appeared. She took the papers, rapped a knuckle affectionately on the console, and left the control room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The Doctor's room was beautifully but simply decorated. He was in bed, and at first all Donna could see was the shock of newly-ginger hair, sticking up more than ever as it was pressed into the pillow.
Then, as if sensing he was no longer alone, the Doctor rolled over and there were the freckles and the slowly opening brown eyes. "......Donna?"
She smiled and sat on the bed, gently running a hand over his forehead. "I'm here."
"Something wrong?" He sat up. "We're still in the Vortex...."
"M-hm. Nothing's wrong. I just wanted to ask you something."
"Oh." And the yawn that came at that moment seemed to surprise him. "Well."
Donna laughed. "Don't break your jaw, there!"
He glared at her and ran a hand through his hair, only succeeding in further discheveling the ginger strands. "So what is it?"
She handed him the papers. "Where would you like to go on holiday?"
He frowned. "On holiday?" He studied them. "Oh, this is a good world.... and this is a great time on Earth....ooh London in the late sixties! There! You'd so love the way things went then!"
"London in the late sixties it is!" she said, standing up and heading toward the control room.
She'd just made it to the door of his bedroom when the lights turned red and an alarm began to blare.
"Distress call!" the Doctor gasped, rocketing out of bed and grabbing his robe. "Let's go see what that's about!"
"I'll see what it's about!" Donna snapped. "You get dressed! Can't have us running for our lives and you in your pyjamas!"
She closed the door on a face flaming as red as his hair.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The Doctor arrived in the control room to find Donna standing by the communicator that he'd not seen used in nearly three regenerations. "Repeating, this is Donna Noble, please repeat your message!"
"I repeat," the voice said. "I am trying to find the Doctor! I don't care who you are, you're not who I need!"
The Doctor's eyes widened. "That's Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart.... tell him who you are."
She nodded. "I repeat, I am Donna Noble. You have reached the TARDIS. I am the Doctor's Co--"
"Assistant," he corrected.
"-Assistant." She beamed at him. "So please tell me why you're ringing!"
There was a moment of silence, then the voice from the past replied, his voice full of tension. "I need to find another version of the Doctor, because mine is in a coma and something has gone horribly wrong with Sergant Benton!"
The Doctor's shoulders stiffened. "Brigadier," he said, depressing the mic, "are you telling me you're in the TARDIS using this equipment without my other self's knowledge?"
"Who's that?"
"I'm the Doctor, Brigadier. And I need you to keep talking to me." He nodded at Donna.
She nodded back and moved to another panel, quickly triangulating when and where in time the transmission was coming from. When she looked up, she reported, "UNIT HQ - outside London. 1972."
The Doctor nodded. "We have a lock on you, Brigadier. I suggest you step away from the console - this could get messy."
On to chapter two