Doctor Who: Fanfic: Stolen

[m_findlow]

Title: Stolen
Fandom: Doctor Who
Characters: The Doctor (Ten), mentions Donna
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 510 words
Content notes: Spoilers for episode Journey's End.
Author notes: Written for juliet316's prompt "Any, any, all that potential gone in an instant" at fic_promptly
Summary: Donna is forced to leave everything behind well before her time.

He knew he had to do it but it didn't make his heart break any less. Donna Noble. The Doctor Donna. Even without all that brilliant Time Lord knowledge she was more than a match for the best of them. And now he would be taking all of that away from her. All that potential, gone in an instant. Without his intervention, her mind would collapse in on itself, the weight of all that Time Lordy stuff too much for any human mind to contain, let alone process. He hated that it was his own cleverness that had condemned her. That wretched hand was always going to come back and haunt him. Why they hell did Jack have to go and salvage it?

Still, he supposed he should be grateful. Without it, the TARDIS would have been destroyed, and Donna along with it. The whole universe might have come under Dalek control, but it hadn't. Because brilliant Donna Noble had burst forth from nowhere and made a mockery of the proposed Dalek destruction of the universe. All that planning and planet stealing, all for nothing.

Dona Noble, who'd been like the best friend he'd never had, to share a laugh with, or go travel the stars. Donna Noble, who after this wouldn't even know who he was or what had happened. Donna Noble, fastest fingers in Chiswick, who would never know that she had saved the entire universe. He had Rose and Martha and Sarah Jane and Captain Jack. He had K-9 and Torchwood. Hell, he even had Mickey and Jackie, and still that hadn't been enough to stop them. Even the Doctor himself had been powerless to stop them, but no one had counted on the tenacity and outright ballsy attitude of one London girl to bring them all undone.

She was so much more than just some secretary, and now she'd be forced to go back to that life of temping and coffee making, full of her own self worth, but without the courage to take on more. She'd never remember all the incredible places they'd been, the adventures they'd had, and all the brilliant stuff she'd done alone the way. They'd saved a family from the destruction of Pompeii, freed the Oods, helped Agatha Christie solve a murder mystery, and stopped the Sontarans from taking over the Earth. He'd shown her how much she was capable of, and now he had to take her back home to return to her safe and ordinary life.

Please look after her, Wilf, he thought. Just you keep telling her how amazing she is, and that she's wasting her life running errands for someone else. Donna Noble could rule the world if only she put her sharp, silver-tongued mind to it. She was so much better than trashy TV and drinks out with the girls, moaning about slimy men at the office.

You might not remember me, Donna noble, and we'll never be able to cross paths again, not without me destroying you, but don't you dare give up being amazing, he prayed.