Much Ado About Who

Chapter 7: Malcoms, Bernards, and Headaches, oh my

He heard a faint moaning and then she slowly opened her eyes. "Doctor?"

He did whimper that time, in relief, and pulled her up to his chest, hugging her close. "Oh, Donna. Thank you. I thought I had lost you."

She sat up then, feeling a bit embarrassed by the two men in the front seat watching them. "How long was I out?"

"Just a few minutes. But long enough to worry me." The Doctor looked her over, paying close attention to her pupils and skin color—the most he could do without his sonic screwdriver or telepathy. "It's Geoff, the bus disappeared with him on it and you collapsed. How are you feeling?"

"Okay." She shifted positions again. "Okay, just a bit of a headache, I think."

-*-*-

*A few minutes later, at the north entrance to the tunnel*

They had gotten out of the car to further investigate the bus disappearance when there was another flash of light and a burning skeleton appeared out of nowhere.

Donna screamed at the sight and buried her head into the Doctor's chest. "Doctor—is it—is it Geoff"

The Doctor pulled her away long enough to slowly walk as close as he dared get, kneeling down to examine the body momentarily before getting back up and walking back to her. "No, they'll be hard pressed to get an ID on the body, but it's definitely not Geoff." He held her close and comforted her for a moment, wishing their closeness was for better reasons than such a horrific scene.

He then turned to the Detective Inspector who was speaking to one of his officers. "DI McMillan, I am telling you, this is out of your depth, and as a high ranking member of UNIT, I demand that you contact them at once," the Doctor said sternly. Normally he would try to take care of this himself, get the TARDIS, use her to scan the area, figure out the problem, get the bus and Geoff back. But he was worried about Donna, and unwilling to take his eyes off her for even a moment if he didn't have to. Not after what happened just a few minutes before in the police car.

-*-*-

The UNIT Captain was barking out orders to her soldiers before she ever noticed the Doctor. After a few moments he grew tired of watching her and approached. "Excuse me, Captain, is it?"

"Yes, please clear the area, thank you," the Captain said without even looking up to see who was speaking.

"I think you might want to hear what I have to say, Captain," the Doctor said more firmly this time.

It was enough to make the Captain look up. She was taken aback a moment and then stood up straight. "Captain Erisa Magambo, sir." She saluted, and the Doctor rolled his eyes. "Might I say, it is an honor, sir." The Captain then turned to Donna who had come up beside the Time Lord. Magambo nodded and saluted towards Donna. "Ma'am, an honor to meet you, as well."

Donna grinned, despite her splitting headache. "Now that's what I'm talking about!"

The Doctor would have enjoyed the moment as well, had his mind not already been on the next task. "Captain Magambo, I'm afraid to say there's good news and bad news to the next piece of information I have for you regarding this situation."

"What's that, Doctor?" the Captain questioned.

"Well, you see, this has yet to be reported to UNIT, but I have a new twin. Due to a biological metacrisis during the not too long-ago incursion with the Daleks. The good news is, I'm sure he's well on his way to determining a way to get back—," he glanced at the skeleton then continued, "--safely."

At that moment one of the soldiers approached with a phone. "Urgent call, ma'am, relayed from HQ."

"Who is it?" Magambo said, slightly irritated.