"I'll stay with you." The Doctor took off his jacket and wrapped it around Donna's shoulders. "You'll feel a bit funny for a while...takes a lot out of you. Sort of like a hangover multiplied by about 100."

"Yeah, like you'd know," she murmured. Her voice was already drowsy. Jack frowned slightly, watching her drift into sleep, so easily, like a child. He envied anyone who could do that, without the initial and sometimes hours-long onslaught of dreams and memories, timeless and persistent. Somehow he wouldn't have pictured Donna as someone with that level of peace of mind either. There was something about her, even without the whole Timelord thing. A restlessness.

"Is she really ok now?" he whispered to the Doctor.

"Seems to be," he whispered back, "who'd have thought it? Just...her old self. Well..." Together they watched as Donna's face changed. She muttered something inaudible and one of her hands clawed for a moment, at the empty air.

"With a few added nightmares perhaps."

"That's no one's fault," Jack said firmly, "anyway, if she wasn't having them about...recent events, she'd be having them about filing and databases and bosses with roaming hands!"

"What would you know about any of that?"

"About the same as you," Jack said, "although the boss angle is something..."

"I think I've heard enough," the Doctor said quickly.

"So, what now?" Jack asked, "You have company again."

"I don't know, Jack." Jack watched his old friend get up and circle the TARDIS, his eyes unfocused and deep in contemplation, "they never realise the danger; that even if they survive it, their lives change. And they'll settle again to a normal life, even if they can."

"I don't think Rose or Martha or Sarah-Jane and definitely not Donna would change a thing about that. Come on, Doctor! Don't be a martyr! Donna's good for you anyway. She takes no nonsense!"

"No, she doesn't," the Doctor smiled slightly, "thanks for watching over her. I really should have done that myself...but I was afraid, if she recognised me..."

"No problem," Jack said, pretending to believe him. Martha had been so shocked on hearing of Donna's predicament. Alone and defenceless without her memories, and the Doctor gone.

"He should at least stayed nearby for a while. Or set her up with something, some kind of a life. He did it for me," she had said. Jack had said nothing. He wouldn't have told a soul about that moment of finding the TARDIS outside the Torchwood Hub on the night after they all parted company. He had come close then, as close as he hoped he ever would, to know what watching two hearts break might be like.

"Just some repair work," the Doctor had said cheerfully, "and I thought, maybe I could fancy some company. Celebrate our triumph...sort of thing." His eyes seemed to burn, as if captured in the 

reflection a fierce, invisible flame. Jack understood the aftermath of such so-called triumphs. The name-taking, he used to call it.

"You left them back then?" He had asked, almost afraid to mention Rose's name.

The Doctor nodded.

"And Donna? That can't be good." He didn't know much about Timelords and he didn't know Donna well, but he knew enough to know that the new version of her couldn't sustain itself for very long.

"No," the Doctor said, "had to erase her memories." He closed his eyes briefly, as if shutting away an image to the back of his mind. His eyes fixed on Jack as if pleading for absolution, or maybe looking for after all, what was usually Jack's reaction to stories of people having their memories modified. He had suffered; he had raged and searched and wondered, and there was no doubt Donna would do the same.

Wordlessly, he had gestured the Doctor inside.

The others had been so pleased to meet him in person and amidst all the banter of the night, the last rushes of adrenaline and wonder, he had seen glimpses in private moments, of a real and terrible grief. When aware of Jack's scrutiny, the Doctor had quickly smiled and engaged them all in conversation but the fact was that the greatest presence amongst them were those who were absent.

Where the Doctor had gone after that, he had no idea. But he hadn't questioned it. After all, even the Doctor needed space. And he and Martha had guarded Donna as best they could, stood by her bedside like parents over a sick child, reliving her lost memories for her as he would have liked to relive his own...

He opened his eyes suddenly, realising that he must have slept. The Doctor was standing by the open door and he could see that it was still night.

"Don't you ever sleep?" he asked.

"I could say the same about you," the Doctor replied, "it's only been about half-an-hour!"

Donna twisted restlessly now in her sleep, a frown creasing her brow, as if she was trying to solve an impossible question. The Doctor came over and patted her shoulder gently.

"We should take her inside," he said to Jack, "she might rest easier in her own bed."

"Ok," Jack stood up and together they eased Donna out of the TARDIS.

"You know," he said when they got back outside, "she might rest easily in her own bed now but tomorrow, you better be ready for her. She'll be up and packed."

"Already is," the Doctor said, "her belongings are all in the TARDIS."

"So? She'll be going with you."

"I don't know," the Doctor said firmly, "I'm going to convince her to stay. She has potential for so much here, right now, in her own life. It's better for her this way."

"Yeah, I'd like to see that convincing," Jack laughed, "she'll be going with you! And I'm going to head off now too. Tell her I said goodbye."

"She'll want to talk to you properly, to thank you."

"Well, I'm sure I'll be seeing you both before long." Jack saluted him.

"Doctor! Until next time,"

"Captain." Jack turned and walked away.

"Jack! How are you getting back?"

Jack kept walking.

"You better not have that Teleport working!"

Jack pretended not to hear.

She woke in her own bed. On it, in fact, rather than in it. She sat up, trying to remember how exactly it was that she had gotten there. She was fully dressed and even still wearing her shoes. Outside, it was still dark but there was a faint morning light creeping across the sky. Beside her, her phone flashed and she picked it up. Ten text messages. Five missed calls. Tony wondering if she was alright. Louise telling her that really weird things had been happening and she'd give her a ring in a while. After reading four of them, she left the phone on the bed, got up and prowled restlessly around the room for a moment. Everything was as it should be. Outside, there was no sound except a very distant murmur of traffic. Picking up her phone again, she headed downstairs.

Her mother and grandfather were in the kitchen, talking in hushed voices. When they heard her, they both came out to the bottom of the stairs.

"Sweetheart, are you alright?"

"Donna! How are you feeling?"

Her mother was hugging her tightly and she could feel her grandfather pat her back gently.

"I'm fine. Are you ok?"

"Donna...we were so worried."

"I know. Granddad, are you ok?"

"I'm fine, love," he said, "happy to see you looking better, and I'm not the only one." He nodded back down the hallway. Tentatively, Donna glanced down the hall and walked slowly to the kitchen.

"I'm Donna," she said, holding out her hand. She watched his eyes widen and his face stare at her, startled.

"John Smith, isn't it?" But she couldn't keep a straight face.

"That's not funny, Donna," the Doctor said. He looked at her closely, "how are you?"

"Yeah, ok," she said, "you?"

He smiled, and not for the first time, she noticed how utterly out of place he looked standing in the midst of a domestic situation. There was no reason for it. He looked perfectly human, for someone who was anything but. But somehow, you could just look at him once and know he didn't belong there. Maybe that was the normalcy that was never going to be possible for him. The normalcy of a life he had once had was all gone. And other peoples' made him feel uncomfortable.

"Donna Noble," he smiled suddenly, regarding her, "you defied just about every medical fact that I ever knew about Timelords...and possibly humans, come to that."

"So," she filled the kettle and leaned beside him against the sink, "you didn't really know that it was going to work, that Regeneration."

"Hadn't a clue," he looked away from her, "but somehow, knowing you, I had a feeling you just wouldn't give up, even if the whole universe ordained that you couldn't survive."

"Well..." She handed him a coffee, and laughed, "this is just too weird, Doctor. We're drinking coffee in my kitchen and talking about...the universe!"

"Would you rather we went outside?"

"You know what I mean." She sat at the table with her own coffee. But she couldn't sit still. She got up and peered around the door but her mother and granddad must have decided to make themselves scarce for a while. That was a first. She wandered around the room, straightening things. The calendar on the wall had a red circle around today's date. Another interview. She couldn't quite remember who it was with but it should be happening in about an hour's time. She stared at it.

"Donna? I don't like it when you go silent."

"My mother used to say the only peace she got was when I was asleep." Donna turned around to face him, "Doctor, do you..."

"Go on."

"Do you want me to come with you again...travel with you?"

For a second, he didn't move. She lowered her head.

"Donna," he came over to the table and pulled out a chair for her, "come and sit down." She didn't move.

"Do you want to come?"

"What do you think? Of course I do!"

"Even though you know...the danger it can put you in. Especially now. You'll be a bit fragile for a while."

"Oi! I'm not fragile!"

"No, ok...wrong wording. But Donna, your life is here. You could do great things here. The potential is all there."

"But I'm not a Timelord anymore. Is that why you don't need me?"

"That was never where your potential came from. Knowledge is useless without empathy, and respect and kindness and that little extra spark of human." He was smiling now.

"So take me with you...if I don't know things instinctively anymore, then I want to learn them!"

"Donna..." He held up his hands in a mock gesture of defeat. "Of course you can come. I'd love you to come with me. I just need to make sure you understand...I don't intend to put people in danger. But it happens. And not every situation can be fixed, no matter how hard I try."

"I know that." She could hear raised voices from the sitting room now. Her mother came storming up the hall.

"Donna! If I heard what I think I just heard..."

"Yeah you did, Mom," Donna said, "I'm going with the Doctor again."

"You're going with him again. Just like that. Months we've been worrying about you...first, when you're gone with no way of contacting you. Then when he brings you home and tells you could die at any moment! And now, you're off again!"

"Look, I'm not doing this to..."

"You're alright now, Donna, I can see that. And we're sorry that we had to lie to you and confuse you. Yesterday...when we were so afraid...I keep thinking, maybe this is how you've been feeling these past months. But it was for your own good, and maybe now that you're alright, it's time to stop wandering. Think about a future, a good job."

"This is my future!"

Her mother was glaring at the Doctor now. "And you! You said you'd leave her be. Was it all your doing? Yesterday?"

"No!" Donna shouted, "He saved you all. And me! Again! So what about a bit of gratitude?"

"Donna, really, no need," the Doctor made a slightly frantic signal for her to simmer down. He looked on the verge of running.

"Mom...I don't mean to worry you." Donna sighed. Behind her mother, she could see her grandfather smile at her.

"Love," he touched her mother's shoulder, "she's not a child. If this is what she wants, then that's fine. You couldn't really imagine her working in an office again, could you? Not after all she's seen out there." He turned to the Doctor, who looked as if he wished he was anywhere else, possibly including even the Dalek Crucible, than in that kitchen.

"I need a solemn promise, Doctor, that you'll do everything in your power to keep her safe."

"Of course I will," the Doctor said.

"I'll stay in touch more, this time," Donna said quickly, wishing she could somehow erase the frustration on her mother's face. Somehow the two of them seemed to spend their time reaching to each other and hurting each other, yet never talking about it openly. Without her grandfather there, she wasn't sure what their relationship would end up like. The thought made her want to cry suddenly. Maybe the Doctor sensed it. She felt his hand take hers gently and squeeze it.

"I'm sorry, Mom," she said, "but I have to go. You need to understand that."

Her mother nodded, and Donna put her arms around her, clinging to her for a moment. She could feel her mother's arms tighten around her. Wilf hugged them both.

"Thanks Granddad," she whispered, "for bringing him back."

With a last wave, they walked outside into the cold morning air and towards the TARDIS. Donna walked in first, relishing that first moment of pure possibility.

The Doctor followed her in and raced to the controls, his hand pausing over them. He grinned at her.

"So, where to?"

Thanks so much for reading, everyone. If anyone's interested, there will be a follow-up coming soon!