Title- Parting Gift
Characters/Pairings- 10, Wilf, Donna's there in spirit
Rating- K+ for mega-angst
Summary- He could walk away... but Donna won't let him. Extremely angsty drabble thing, End of Time.

"Just leave me."

"Fine. Alright then. I will."

He wants to. Dear god, he wants so much to just leave Wilf there in his glass box to die. He wants to keep this energetic, cheeky body that feels and lives and loves like a human, only more, only better. He wants to run away from this, just like he wanted to run away when the ghost of his future whispered in his ear that the end was coming so many regenerations ago...

And he could. Realistically, he could do as Wilfred says. He could walk away... but Donna won't let him.

He can feel her there in the room as he raves at the sky. The DoctorDonna. No, not even the DoctorDonna. Just Donna Noble. Brilliant, marvelous Donna, who was the most Time Lady human he ever met long before the metacrisis. His best friend. She's lost to him, now. He can't be there to remind her she's brilliant, to challenge her to be better just as she does him. He can't be that person that drives her on to be spectacular, and the only person left who can... is Wilfred.

He can't rob Donna of her grandfather and best friend. He just can't.

She needs Wilf. She needs her grandfather to do what he'll never be able to. With Wilf there to countermand Sylvia's scathing remarks, Donna will at least remember how wonderful she is. But Wilf is going to die, unless the Doctor acts now. And so he does.

Because giving her back her grandfather is the Doctor's parting gift to her.

And so as he steps into the box in Wilf's place, he carries Donna in his hearts. Maybe if she can send him to his death, she can give him the strength to live, as well...