〖 PARTNERS IN CRIME 〗
"COME ON!"
Donna shoved his body, forcing the terrible screeching to stop. She lead them down the hall and out of the office when the Doctor took the lead from her and lead them down the stairs and back to the underbelly of the building. He stopped at the closet him and Valarie had hidden in before. He opened the door and began throwing various objects out, objectively emptying it.
"Well, that's one plan." Donna commented. "Hiding in the cupboard. I like it." He ushered them in, shutting the door and beginning to move a part of the wall.
"There was an access point in here to the entire computer system in the building."
"When did you find this exactly?" Valarie asked him, extremely confused as she did not remember seeing it before. He shrugged.
"Around five, when you were sat up against the wall asleep and drooling." He held Foster's sonic pen up. "It was locked, but now we have this." He smiled. "I can get into it." He began pulling at the wires before stepping back.
"She's got the tower all wired up. But what for?"
"Well if I was trying to emit a massive signal to millions of bodies, I'd want the biggest antenna." Valarie suggested. He began to work on dismantling the signal, Donna watching him closely.
"Did you ever find Rose?" She blatantly asked him, with a low tone that almost sounded sympathetic. Valarie looked up at the name, wondering how Donna knew of Rose even. Valarie was unsure of how quickly after Rose was lost she came along, but she knew Donna had met him prior so it was likely she was mentioned then.
"Still lost." He flatly responded. Valarie felt bad she never questioned him deeply on Rose; but she knew how much it hurt him to talk about her. And in ways, it hurt Valarie as well.
"But, I met Val and then we had this friend. Martha Jones." Valarie recongized the pain in his voice when he spoke of her as well. She felt a stabbing emotion, with the sudden idea that one day he would probably be talking to someone completely new and would say her name with that very same pain. It was unbearable to consider.
"But Martha decided she wanted to be home, so Val stuck around and has put up with me alone since." She smiled, leaning up and peering over his shoulder to watch what he did. Donna's eyes looked to her and returned the smile.
"You're lucky then, huh." Valarie nodded, taking into consideration how lucky she had been to have been offered to stay and travel with him. Even if it nearly killed her a few times.
"So, are you two, you know..." Donna trailed, Valarie's eyes shifting to her. "Together?" The Doctor looked up and paused at the question. He craned his neck to Valarie as they both seemingly struggled to answer the question. Their friendship, or relationship, or whatever it had became was such a tangled mess in each of their minds and the irony was one always had figured the other knew exactly what they were.
"Partners. We're partners."
As soon as the words left his lips the ambiguity of the phrase stuck out. Partners? Well, that could mean a lot. But he didn't say friends, and Valarie felt an odd fondness to the term because it was such a him thing to say. Casual, yes partners was casual to any. But to her, she felt like it was his way of addressing their situation. Because the Doctor was affectionate with all his friends; in tight hugs and smiles and what not. But verbally, he was casual. Almost as if it was awkward for him to speak any other way, like he had never gotten that chance. It was here Valarie realized what the pain associated with Rose was; he had loved her, so, so, deeply. And he never got to tell her so.
He had knelt in front of her body, back to her and she rested her hands on his shoulders without thinking twice. She was visibly lost in thought, and squeezed his shoulders lightly. And almost on instinct as well he reached a hand up, rubbing over the smooth skin of the back of her hand in a comforting manner and giving her hand a squeeze before returning back to work. But he did it all so casually, as if it was second nature by now.
Valarie loved him, and she felt a new determination to make sure he knew so - which, unbeknownst to her, he already did.
The computer blared to life, sirens snapping her from her thoughts.
"Inducer activated."
"What's it doing?" Donna asked. He rose to his feet, Valarie releasing his shoulder and watching it's lights blare.
"She started the program. And she's put it into emergency parthenogenesis. Fat, skin, bones and organs. One million people are about to die." He reached into his pocket, pulling out the pendant and began to unscrew it. "I can cancel it out with this. Then the fat just goes back to being fat." He inserted it into the computer
"Inducer increasing."
"No, no, no! She increased the signal. I can't override it and if I don't those people will die!"
"How can I help?" Donna asked suddenly.
"No, no. Sorry Donna this is beyond you." He flew into a frenzy, trying all he knew. "I can't save them."
"Doctor, tell me what you need." Donna instructed, trying to remain calm.
"I need, I need a second pendant but I don't-"
Valarie looked to Donna who pulled out a second pedant. She dangled it, the Doctor also looking to it. The three starred wide eyed, before grinning and laughing a little at how perfect it seemed. He took it, unscrewing it and placing that one within the computer as well. The computer shut off, lights going black. The joy of stopping it was short lived as the building shook.
"What the hell was that?" Donna asked.
"I believe that was Foster's ride." The Doctor told them. They left the room in a run, running up the stairs yet again and following his lead towards the roof. "If Foster thinks they'll take her shes more daft then I thought."
"Why wouldn't they?" Valarie asked.
"All they wanted were the children. Imagine , if you had a baby at a hospital. You wouldn't take the nurse home, would you?" He asked her. They entered the roof, were several bright beams of blue light shined down from a ship. In those beams, the small white adipose creatures floated.
"What are you going to do then? Blow them up?" Donna asked.
"Why would I do that? Their just children. Can't help where they came from."
"Oh, that's different from the last time I saw you. Seems you've done him good." Donna leaned to Valarie. "Charity worker Valarie." She teased. One of the adipose seemed to stop it's descent upwards, waving at the three. They waved back, Valarie and Donna almost in amazement.
"I'm waving at fat." Donna declared.
"Doesn't get any less weird." Valarie informed her. To the right of them rose Foster, in a beam herself. They rushed to the edge.
"Well Doctor, if I never see you again it will be too soon."
"Matron, please listen. Come onto the roof, the Adiposian family doesn't plan on taking you! I saw their transmission!"
"And why wouldn't they want to take me?"
"Because they knew it was a crime to breed on Earth! And what happens to accomplices? They're disposed of."
"But I'm not an accomplice, I am a nanny to these children!" She declared.
"Well, mum and dad have the children now. They won't need a nanny!" Almost on a point, the light around Foster shut off. With a scream, down she plummeted.
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"That's my car!" Donna laughed, pointing to her car parked next to the TARDIS within the alley way. She opened her trunk, and began to shove suitcases in the Doctor's hands as she rambled on. When his hands got full, she placed smaller bags in Valarie's hands. She then excitedly rushed to the TARDIS, opening the door and stepping halfway in.
"Well, you don't seem excited to have me anymore." Donna turned to him, with a worried look.
"It's just, it's a funny old life in the TARDIS. And with Martha, things got complicated. She did somethings for me that no one should. But I just want a mate." He sighed. Valarie stood next to him, remembering the trauma Martha must have suffered during that year with the Master ruling. Valarie still had occasional nightmares about it herself. The heavy atmosphere vanished as soon as it had arrived.
"You just want to mate?!"
"I just want a mate!"
"Well you aren't mating with me, sunshine!" Donna declared. Valarie burst into laughter as how flustered he had became and how insistent Donna was on what he meant.
"Besides, it outta be her job to do the mating, if that's what you call it, with you!" Valarie's laughing slowed, all the blood rushing to her face as she looked to him with a wide, open mouthed smile as she didn't know how to respond to such a statement. Donna vanished into the TARDIS to reappear moments later.
"So, I can come then?"
"Oh, yes." He looked between Valarie and her. "We would love it." Donna became giddy, running to hug the two and forcing them to drop the luggage.She wrapped her arms around their necks and held them close before rushing back into the TARDIS, yammering on about having to stop by her home and give her mum her car keys back first. The door shut.
"There we are, then. Okay. Doctor, Valarie, and Donna." He sighed. Valarie turned to him with a smile, Donna's attitude almost contagious.
"Well, once you get all of this in there we can get a move on." She walked away from him and the pile. He began to protest, following her as she approached the TARDIS door. She stopped right before it, turning to look at him as he stood close to her and towred above.
"Now, you can't just leave me to get all of that or it'll be hours, and I mean hours before!-" She reached up, feeling suddenly impulsive. She grabbed the top of his tie, gently tugging it down and pressing her lips against his. It was gentle, and sweet, and a kiss full of warmth. He immediately leaned down towards her body, and when she pulled her head away his mouth chased hers so a second. She patted his chest.
"You got this." She smiled, his head still close to hers. "Partner."
She turned away as if nothing had happened and entered the TARDIS, the wood groaning as she closed the door.
The Doctor ran a hand through his hair. They both seemed like they were about to be the death of him, in their own special ways.
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Hello! I am now going to try to keep a schedule of updates with them being every Tuesday! Thank you for reading! :)