To Be Loved

Chapter 20 - Turn Left

Turn Left -

Donna, the Oracle and the Doctor were walking across a market place with pagodas and lots of banners with Chinese symbols on them. Over them, cars were flying and among them the bustle in the streets was loud and crowded. The Doctor was making sure to always have a hand on his pregnant wife to make sure she was there and safe.

The Oracle was now seven months pregnant and the Doctor had become a lot more careful around her and about where they went. What could go wrong on a little planet full of little market stalls? He bought two foaming drinks for himself and Donna, not wanting the Oracle to drink something potentially harmful, and handed one to the ginger.

"I'd rather have water", Donna protested.

"You're going to love it, I've had it before actually", the Oracle laughed as Donna took the drink mistrustfully.

"One, two, three", the Doctor toasted and took a gulp.

Donna took a little sip and put it down, "Lovely!"

She walked on, the Time Lords shortly behind her but everyone caught up with their own exploration. Thus, they didn't notice when Donna went missing and stayed in their own conversation.

"I've been thinking", she opened.

"That's great, love. Keep those brains fresh", he turned to her and poked her forehead with a grin.

She raised her eyebrows at him annoyed, "So, you don't want me to share, then?"

"No, do go ahead", he said and took her hand again.

"I've been thinking about names", she put her free hand on her stomach.

"Ooo, yes, share", he jumped a little.

She giggled at him, "Okay, well, I thought about important people and things, and stuff that defines us, right?"

He nodded as if she was presenting some scientific thesis and moved his hands to her waist.

"And the first that came to mind, obviously, was the Tardis and the stars. And I'm named after a constellation, you know?"

"Yeah, I know your name", he smiled proudly.

"And all of those things match up to Astrid", she looked down at her belly, "It's an anagram of Tardis. It means beautiful goddess, but also star and could technically still work if she ever regenerated into a boy."

He had the brightest smile on his face when she looked back up at him. He was shifting from one leg to the other, anxiously waiting for her to ask for his opinion.

"What do you think?", she finally asked with a small smile.

"I love it", he leaned down to kiss her but it didn't last long because they couldn't stop smiling.

"Have you noticed that Donna still hasn't given disgusted, sarcastic commentary?", she asked when they had calmed a little.

He turned away from her to look around for Donna, "Where is Donna?"

"Donna!"

They heard a scream and turned to the tent it came from. They rushed inside to find Donna alone at a table, staring down at what looked like a huge beetle.

"Donna, my days, are you alright?", the Oracle asked and put a hand on her shoulder.

Donna jumped up and hugged her, then moved to the Doctor to hug him as well.

"Everything alright?", he asked her with a small smile.

"Oh god", she mumbled and pulled away to look at him.

"Donna, are you okay? What happened?", the Oracle spoke again.

Donna stepped back and looked at the beetle again, "I don't know."

They sat down and Donna explained that she somehow ended up in some apocalyptic world in which she'd never met the Doctor who had died in turn before he had met Jane Doe, thus creating a world where the Oracle existed neither.

"But I can't remember. It's slipping away. You know like when you try and think of a dream and it just sort of goes", Donna said.

"My stars, that means Martha died at Holy Heart, right? Before we met. And the Titanic crashed into Buckingham Palace. Nuclear crash on Earth", the Oracle muttered as they all stared at the dead beetle.

"Just got lucky, this thing. It's one of the Trickster's Brigade. Changes a life in tiny little ways. Most times, the universe just compensates around it, but with you? Great big parallel world", the Doctor poked the beetle with a stick and when the Oracle pulled his hand away to stop him, he looked back at Donna.

"Hold on. You said parallel worlds are sealed off", Donna said.

"Yeah, but you created one, that's different", the Oracle told her.

"Funny thing is, seems to be happening a lot to you", the Doctor added.

"How do you mean?"

"Well, The Library and then this", he looked back at the beetle in thought.

"Just goes with the job, I suppose", Donna shrugged.

The Oracle chuckled, "Let me just say, Donna, I don't think I have ever created a parallel world around myself. And I've been doing this for centuries."

"Sometimes I think there's way too much coincidence around you, Donna. I met you once, then the Oracle met your grandfather, then I met you again. In the whole wide universe, I met you for a second time. It's like something's binding us together."

"Don't be so daft. I'm nothing special", she shrugged it off.

"Oh, Donna, you are incredible", the Oracle rubbed Donna's shoulder.

"Yes, you are", the Doctor agreed, "You're brilliant."

"She said that", Donna muttered.

"Who did?", the Oracle asked.

"That woman. I can't remember", Donna said pensively.

"Well, she never existed now", the Doctor shrugged it off.

"No, but she said the stars. She said the stars are going out", Donna told him.

"Yeah, but that world's gone", he told her.

"No, but she said it was all worlds. Every world. She said the darkness is coming even here."

"Who was she?", he was intrigued now.

"I don't know."

"What did she look like?", it seemed urgent.

"She was blonde."

"What was her name?"

"I don't know."

He grabbed her arms with urgency, "Donna, what was her name?"

"But she told me to warn you. She said two words", Donna looked away in thought again.

"What two words? What were they? What did she say?"

"Bad Wolf."

The Doctor let go of her and looked away in shock.

"Well, what does it mean?", she then asked, looking at the Oracle when the Doctor didn't answer.

"Doctor?", the Oracle was just as confused when he ran out.

They followed him quickly to find every word on every sign, banner and even the Tardis had been replaced with "Bad Wolf". He ran to the Tardis and the women followed. The inside was glowing red with emergency and the Oracle put a hand on the beam next to her to communicate with and console the Tardis.

"Doctor, what is it?", Donna asked again, "What's Bad Wolf?"

"It's the end of the universe."