fracturedrp | I Promised to Keep Them Safe.

[Donna is hesitant to approach her Doctor. She's made it so hard on him... but everyone says she'll feel better if they talk.]

[She doesn't know what to say to in response to his feeling of guilt, so instead, she comes up next to him and leans against the wall, like she did all that time ago in the Library.]

The Doctor was looking for Donna he was given the note by Ianto but he was given news that she wasn't in her flat. He's taking in the sites and he's bothered a few close looking red heads.

"I feel guilty." The Doctor's got a tinge of an emotional sadness in his voice and those senses kick in. He turns around to see Donna standing there and he wonders how much of her wants to see him right now.

"Been looking for you," The Doctor goes to push his feelings aside for now. "I was glad to hear Jack's friend took you in for the night." He's been worried for her, his best friend who's so full of life is just a sad, sad person right now.

She sniffs, trying not to cry, "I couldn't.... Yeah... it was nice of him."

She couldn't what? Face him? Stay on the TARDIS? Face feeling trapped ever again? Yeah, some combination of all of those.

"You shouldn't... It wasn't your fault," she sighs, "I talked every time, except when it mattered." Yes, she's going to fully blame herself for this.

The Doctor feels horrible and he understands if Donna doesn't want to look at him right now. "I'll take you home if you'd like." That might sound terrible but he knows maybe she wants to be away from all of this.

Then he hears her try to blame herself. "I took you there. I put my nose where it really didn't belong this time and look what happened?" The Doctor feels horrible and he feels guilty for dragging her across universes to this meeting.

He wanders over towards her and he does something, he gives her a hug. "If you want to go home, I'll take you back home."

She tenses at first. Then, against her current intuition, she allows herself to melt into his hug. A few minutes after that, she raises her arms and wraps them around him to return the hug.

She thinks about his offer, "I don't think I can ever go home again. Gramps would probably not speak to me if he knew I was guilty. And mum...." She tapers off, when she thinks of her mum, she shudders, "Mum would disown me."

At that she clings more tightly to him, "You're all I have left..."

And that thought terrifies her, if she can never go home again, where does that really leave her?

He doesn't want to let go, he's got the image of Donna being pulled away being played over and over again. Then he listens to her talk about not wanting to go home again. "You weren't guilty. You never were, you did nothing to cause any of those problems."

"I made a promise, that promise not to let anything happen to you and look what happened. It's my fault." The Doctor won't take Donna home if she doesn't want too. "I never, never should of went there." It was full of bad memories and memories he tried to bury after he finally began to over come his own survivors guilt.

He pulls Donna in closer and with the lack of people in the little park he's not worried about what they're saying. "You're innocent of anything they accused you of."

Donna wants to believe him, she really does! But, "I feel guilty... I mean, there must've been something I did. They don't just... sentence innocent people... do they?"

She rests her head on his shoulder, "You didn't let it happen to me. You fought..."

She closes her eyes, and feels the tears slide down her cheeks, but makes no attempt to wipe them.

"You didn't do anything they accused you of. There's something they say about the word 'assumptions'. That's what they did." The Doctor doesn't say anything more about what he knows about the trial and some of the others. He lets Donna hold onto him. "You did too, you were going to let them know exactly what type of person Donna Noble is."

The words about innocent gets a sad look from The Doctor. "Sadly, even Time Lords are as infallible as humans are. They're not gods even if they get that type of complex." He looks down at the little dog with her and he smiles. "Who's this little guy?" The Doctor asks, the smile is still there and how can one not smile at a puppy? He goes to think on something else and he goes to ask Donna. "Do you want to stay here or shall we travel a bit? A bit of a vacation from this madness perhaps?"

Donna sniffs and nods. It hurts to think of how proud of her he sounds when, in her mind, he has no business thinking that. She sighs, thankful for the distraction of the pup, "His name is Haggis. He belongs to Ianto and Patrick... That's all I know really." More accurately, it's all she understands.

Donna's jaw drops a bit at his invitation, "You... still want... with me?" She doesn't quite know how to answer that question just now.

He's very proud of Donna and he's proud of everyone that he spent time getting to know on a personal level. "Haggis? You do know what Haggis is?" Ianto and Patrick don't ring a bell name wise but he goes to give the dog a scratch on the head. "He needs a better name like oh, Ringo! Elvis?"

He pops back up and he smiles. "Course I still want you! I've had some of the best times of my life traveling with you. We're mates." He tries to bait her just a little bit with that one. He still isn't sure how much he's helping her right now.

His bait earns an attempt at a smile, "Yeah, we are... And... mates help each other, right?"

Because the GhostMaster gave her an idea... she needs to at least ask.

"We are!? Yeah, we're best mates at that." The Doctor does his best to try to sound too alien. He understands fear and feeling helpless at times himself so this is a bit easier to relate too.

He goes to rub the back of his neck. "So, what do you want help with? Well other than to smile on a bright day like this."

"Well... when we were on the Ood sphere. You were able to let me hear the song.... and take it away again." She bits her lip as she pauses. "Could you do that with... this? Take it away as if it never happened?"

"I could do that, yeah?" The Doctor knows what she's asking him and he knows it's something serious. "I want you to consider this first. I know it hurts, oh it, was horrific and terrifying all at the same time. It wasn't the same as running from an alien bent on slaving a planet or anything else we faced. I still want you to think. I have a feeling that you're strong enough to over come this."

The Doctor wants to see if Donna can try to put her mind together on her own without resulting to that. "Wiping someone's memories is something they would do. I'm not them Donna."

By the time the Doctor is done speaking Donna's in tears. She meets his eyes and tries to speak, but nothing comes out. Finally she grabs him back into a hug and cries into his shoulder. After a few minutes, she speaks, but it's choked with her tears, "S-sorry.... I know... you're better.... than that..."

He holds onto Donna, he knows everyone who stood in that room was better than those Time Lords. "Of course I am. I know a few other good renegades besides myself. We broke away from what they've done."

She sniffles and nods, turning her head slightly, so she's resting the side of her head on his shoulder now and facing towards him. She takes a couple more breaths before responding, "Am I every gonna be okay... ever again?"

Because it sure doesn't feel like it.

He lifts his hand up to place a hand under her chin. The Doctor has those moments of feeling human and he might need more of them. "I think you are Donna. You have one thing that those Time Lords will never have. You have a wonderful extended family."

The Doctor knows it will be a long road ahead of them both. "Why don't we go there?" The Doctor finds a little table that has a bit of leaf and debris on it along with a bench. It's over looking a small brook in the park and its peaceful. "We can sit and we can sit. If you want to talk more we can."

She allows him to lift her chin and look into his eyes. She sniffs and shakes her head a little to try to clear away the tears. She smiles, a small sad, but real smile. When she sees the bench he points to she nods, "Yeah, I'd like that."

She doesn't know how much talking she'll do, but a pretty little view can't hurt. And Haggis seems content to go wherever she does.

I Promised to Keep Them Safe.

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