After the Doctor saved Donna from the Racnoss, and before he met Martha in the hospital, he had another adventure. One he doesn't talk about to anyone. But why?
And now, as he and Donna deal with the return of Rose, how will he also deal with the re...
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(wrong suit, right pose)
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After coming into the TARDIS from his walk through the garden with Scarlett, the Doctor plopped himself down into the jump seat with his feet propped up on the console.
His brain was stuck in a certain 15-second scene and refused to stop repeating it. He rarely indulged in such a distraction, but since his brain had been able to little more than stay distracted the past 24 hours, he decided to embrace it a bit longer. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back, a smile on his face as he let the earlier conversation and gentle kiss that followed replay in his brain. 'But for now, please remember this..." she had said.
Blimey, how could he possibly forget? It wasn't his first time kissing someone, but it certainly hadn't happened often. In his previous incarnation, he kissed Rose to get rid of the vortex energy. With this face, he had kissed Martha to distract the Judoon. Donna kissed him to shock him. But none of those kisses held the feelings of the kiss Scarlett had just given him. The only time he had kissed someone in this regeneration with those feelings was Joan, and that was when he had used the chameleon arch to become human, but essentially, he was a different person then.
The only thing he wished could have been differently in this moment, was that he could have had the time to return the kiss. His smile hadn't faded as the image replayed in his mind again.
"Oh! It was that good, was it?" His smile turned into a grin when he heard Donna Noble pipe up from somewhere behind him. He scooted himself over, not yet opening his eyes, knowing his best friend was headed his direction. Sure enough, he felt the seat shift and her warmth beside him. "Sooo, please, do tell."
"Now, Donna, you know, I'm not one to kiss and tell—"
"What!? You kissed her! This is better than I thought!" Donna almost squealed in excitement.
"Actually," he said as he opened his yes, sat up, set his feet back down on the grating, and turned to her; the smile having not left his face. "She kissed me."
Donna gasped, "So the repressed Teni Queen and the repressed Time Lord are actually an item?"
"Who, wait, what did I miss?" Jack spoke up as he entered the room. "Who did what, and why was I not involved?"
"She kissed him!" Donna exclaimed, hopping up and leaning against the console so she could see the Doctor and Jack.
"Who kissed who?" Jacob came in behind Jack, catching the tail end of the conversation.
"Donna! That was supposed to be between you and I!" the Doctor whined.
"You kissed Donna!?" Jacob bristled.
"What!? No!" The Doctor was now totally broken out of his revelry, and his brain was trying to catch up with how fast this conversation was going where he didn't want it.
"No, you daft alien! Scarlett kissed the Doctor!" Donna placated Jacob, running her hands down his arms as he approached her.
"Oh!" Jacob and Jack said at the same time.
"Donna!" the Doctor whined again.
Jacob cleared his throat, realizing he had started to make a scene. He turned and leaned against the console beside Donna. "Oh, come on, Doctor. We deserve to hear a little of the gossip, after all. If it weren't for the three of us, you wouldn't have had your romantic interlude." Jacob spoke the last words a bit sing-song, eyebrows waggling at the Doctor.
"Here, here! If I can't be a part of the action, the least you can do is fill me in on all the saucy details." Jack grinned, and Jacob nodded his head in agreement.
"Oh, c'mon!" The Doctor was flustered and got up to start fiddling with controls on the console, acting as if he was doing something very important. He sniffed. "It wasn't like that, well not exactly. No, it wasn't like that."
"Well, I'm fairly certain by the look on your face when I entered the room that it wasn't a sisterly peck on the cheek," Donna teased him.
The Doctor blushed as he kept his eyes on the console, desperately not wanting to be further embarrassed by making eye contact with any of the three of his companions at that moment. "No, it wasn't that either—for certain."
It was Jacob who moved to his brother's side, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, Doctor. I know we're messing about with you. Seriously, we knew you two needed some time after the news she and Balen dropped at dinner, that's why we brought him on the TARDIS with us. So, it went well?"
A smile quirked at the corner of the Doctor's lips and he looked up at his brother. "Yeah, it did." His face then went serious. "Tomorrow could be rough for her, with the big announcement. And things are going to be so busy the next few weeks, and for however long it takes us to get the planet back up to par. We may not have many chances to be alone till this is all over. She wanted me to have something to remember until this is all over." By the time he finished explaining, the smile had reappeared.
He hadn't realized until that moment when he felt Donna's hand on his other shoulder that she had moved around the console to be on his other side. "Doctor, we're so happy for you."
"Yeah Doc, you of all people deserve some happiness." Jack smiled as he came closer.
Before the Doctor could argue, the three had him in a group hug. They all chuckled together before he pushed them away. "Okay, okay, enough of that."
"Okay, Spaceman. But, oh—" Donna stopped herself. "I almost forgot, I've got tea and banana bread for everyone!"
"Banana bread!" the Doctor and Jacob exclaimed in unison. Both had almost simultaneously perked up like puppies being told it was time for dinner.
Donna shook her head. "You know, when you two do that, it's just a little bit scary."
"Oh, I don't know, I think it could be—" Jack started to speculate but was interrupted.
"Jack, stop!" the Doctor and Jacob exclaimed in unison. Jack broke out in a grin. They all laughed together as they left the control room, headed for the kitchen.
