Third Time’s A Charm
Title: Third Time’s A Charm
Pairing: Ten X Donna
Prompt: Autumn Wedding
Rating: Everyone
Tags: Fluff, Pure Happy Little Bit of Nothing
Words: 4138
“Not over there you… You DUMBO!” Donna Noble, soon to be Temple-Noble shouted across the church to the hapless florist. Today was supposed to be the happiest day of her life, yet she felt on edge and agitated. She could not have asked for a more beautiful autumn day for her wedding to Shaun. The landscape was adorned with majestic old oaks ablaze with fiery red, yellow and orange leaves and the air held the perfect crisp, snap to the breeze. To the naked eye everything was perfect. Even her mother was in high spirits, complimenting her on simply everything…
And that too, was bothering the heck outta her!
Hands perched on her curvaceous hips, Donna pursed her lips as she cocked her head and surveyed the church one last time. Yeah, everything was perfect. Too perfect. She should be over the moon.
Over the moon… The lost moon of… Of what? Moon lost? What?
Donna blinked heavily, artfully manicured nails digging into the pew in front of her for support. “Not now!” she half moaned, half hissed to herself. She turned her head to look out a nearby window, but it was no use. She could see nothing through the lovely old stained glass. Releasing her death grip on the gently aged wooden pew, she slowly crossed in front of the well adorned altar towards the window nonetheless. Her long ivory gown swishing around her ankles was the only accompanying sound be heard as she stretched an arm up so she could lightly glide a finger over a section of the glass. There was something about the colour of it that drew her in. She bit down on her lower lip as she drew her finger along the edges of the design.
Blue, but there was something about this particular shade of blue, but what?! Why was it so important? She was getting married for cryin’ out loud in a matter of what…? Forty-five minutes? An hour? What was she doing thinking about moons and staring at stained glass windows for?!
Withdrawing her hand, Donna mumbled to herself that she was simply going absolutely sack of hammers and she was damn lucky Shaun put up with her and her nonsense when she turned and stopped dead in her tracks.
“Hello Donna,” a smooth American voice greeted her with familiarity.
It was as if Donna Noble’s entire world slowed to a halt when she did. Her eyes travelled the length of the handsome man in the rather outdated outfit, snapping her out of her momentary lapse. “Well hello yourself,” she replied, one eyebrow slightly raised as she couldn’t help the small smile tugging at her lips. Internally she told herself to stop it. She was getting married, but honestly, besides being drop dead gorgeous, she could almost hear a tiny voice whispering in her ear to stay put. To trust him.
And who was she to argue with strange voices really?
Captain Jack Harkness flashed Donna his most dazzling smile approaching her cautiously as he was instructed to. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything important, but you need to come with me right away before you make a really big mistake,” he told her, holding out his hand as he came within a few feet of her.
Donna’s eyes seemed to simply sparkle and shine with wonder as they followed his movements. However, as the meaning of his words reached her, along with his outstretched hand, the spell the enchanting American seemed to hold over her suddenly broke and the outspoken ginger slapped his hand away, taking a step backwards.
“Are you out of your bloody mind?!” she shouted at him. “Seriously? Are you daft? Hit your head on the way o’er or somthin’ mate? Today is my wedding day! I’m not goin’ anywhere with you,” she insisted, her eyes that were a moment ago so filled with wonder now shooting daggers straight at Jack.
Taken aback, Jack held his hands up in a show of surrender. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Easy there sister!” he tried to soothe her. “I’m your friend and believe it or not, I’m here to help you,” he insisted, taking a very cautious half step forward.
For her part, Donna was having none of it. “Don’t come one step closer buddy or I’ll knock you into next Tuesday!” she threatened, hands gathering up her full skirt so she could hightail it out of the church for help if she got the chance. “I don’t know you from bloody ADAM,” she pointed out. “Why the hell would you want to help me and besides, who says I need your help anyway!?”
Jack shook his head, exasperation etching lines upon his face. He knew Donna was difficult and he needed to approach her with caution, but time really was of the essence here. The drug Tosh whipped up to knock everyone out was only going to last so long. “You DO know me,” he insisted, going against instinct and moving yet closer still. “You just don’t remember, not yet anyway, But that’s why I’m here. To help you. Help you <i>remember </i>. You do want to remember, don’t you Donna? Get back what you lost? I know you know what I’m talking about.” He paused, he only had one more ace up his sleeve if she didn’t go for it after this pitch.
The air in the church suddenly turned thick as the fabric of Donna’s dress slipped unconsciously from her fingers. Her jaw slowly became unhinged as she simply stared at the stranger in front of her. This stranger who didn’t feel strange for some reason and claimed to be her friend of all things. A friend that could help her remember! How did he know? Could it possibly be true?
She suddenly felt her knees threaten to buckle under her own weight but didn’t want the other to know it. Turning quickly, Donna pressed a hand to her mouth to stifle a small gasp and reached for the edge of the seat next to her with the other to offer herself a moment of support. Whirling back around, Donna tried to ignore the headache suddenly threatening to overtake her as she focused solely on the pair of blue eyes studying her so intently.
“Why?!” she insisted. “And why now? Why are you here and who the hell are you? You from the loony bin is that it? Come to take me away finally?” she scoffed, working her jaw. That would be her luck now wouldn’t it? Taken away to a padded room on her wedding day.
This had bloody Nerys written all over it!
Jack couldn’t help but chuckle. “You’re not crazy Donna, not by a long shot. If anything, <i>you </i> my dear, are the most important woman in the entire universe… In all of creation!” he exulted, smiling kindly at her.
“Now I know you’re off your rocker, mate” Donna scoffed, giving her head a small shake as she made sure to stress the word mate, “I am nobody even remotely important. I’m just a temp from Chiswick. I’ve never done an important thing in my entire life. You’ve got the wrong woman,” she smirked, jabbing a finger at him accusingly.
“Oh Donna!” Jack breathed, rushing forward so his coat swept out around his legs with a majestic flare. “You really have no idea!” his voice was hushed, awed even as he looked upon her with remarkable tenderness. He reached out and cupped her face with one surprisingly gentle, but strong hand, smiling softly down at her. “You my dear, feisty Donna Noble are so very much more and I am here to help you remember that. To help you remember how special and important you are and not just to me, or to the entire universe, but to one very, VERY special man.” Jack searched her face for any signs she might remember anything. Any clue that somewhere in her subconscious she remembered the Doctor.
At the touch of his hand, Donna could feel her the blush rising up good and proper in her cheeks, but she did not pull away. Instead, she listened intently, an argument poised upon her lips to refute his statement until he mentioned something about a very special man. Instinctively she knew he did not mean Shaun. The man drew his hand away slowly, long fingers lingering for a moment, but she could not stop gazing into his endless blue eyes. They looked so old for one so young! So weary! Her mouth opened and closed as if she wanted to say something, but for once, words would not come.
Jack nodded slowly. She DID remember. Somewhere in that remarkable brain of hers she did remember! The remote scans the Doctor had done had shown Donna’s physiology was changing. Her DNA was becoming more Timelady than human. Maybe now the Doctor really could try bringing her back? A new vigour came over Jack as he dutifully and happily noted her reaction. “It’s all right Donna. Like I said, I am your friend and I am going to help you. Well me and my, I mean, our friend. Name’s Jack. Captain Jack Harkness.”</p>
Donna blinked several times, her hand flying up to her head as the throbbing only intensified. “Jack… Jack… JACK?! I knew a Jack I think…” her hands shot out in front of her, her fingers curling into the thick woollen lapels of his coat as her eyes bore into him.
His smile grew lazy as he shifted Donna to move towards the exit. “That’s me. Knew you couldn’t forget this face. Now, we’ve got to get you out of here. You’ve got a date.”
<p>Donna allowed Jack to guide her. Her feet following willingly even as her brain worked hard to process what was going on. “But… but… Wedding…” she mumbled even as he slipped out of his long wool coat off and wrapped it around her shoulders.</p>
Stopping just outside the side entrance of the church, Jack stepped in front of the dazed red head, hands braced upon her shoulders for support. “Answer me this? Why do you want to marry Shaun?”
Donna was stunned to discover the answer didn’t immediately come to her. “Well, he um… He’s sweet. He’s good to me.” She told him finally, avoiding looking directly at him.
“But you don’t love him. You’re not really happy are you? You can’t be, because you love someone else. Someone you can’t remember, not fully, but you will. Someone with big brown puppy dog eyes maybe?” He chuckled softly.
She opened her mouth to tell him to shove it. To tell him he had no idea what he was talking about until he mentioned “big, brown eyes”. It was then that a flash of pain so bright and so hot flooded her head that Donna groaned and buckled against the American. Those eyes. She remembered such eyes. They filled her heart with such longing, but the face they belonged to was always just out of reach. The details slipped through her fingers like sand on a beach.
Jack wrapped his arms around Donna to support her, guiding her towards the TARDIS hidden inside a shed in the Vicar’s garden. “Shhhh… It’s all right Donna, it’ll be alright soon. I promise.” He told her softly, all the while hoping he wasn’t wrong.
For her part, Donna wasn’t listening. She soon slipped into unconsciousness and was carried the last few feet into the welcoming embrace of the TARDIS and transferred into the anxious, overjoyed arms of its resident Timelord.</p>
The TARDIS dimmed her lights and tried to hum soothingly as Jack and the Doctor waited with Wilfred Mott to see if Donna would wake up. It had been over an hour now since the Doctor attempted to restore her memories. By all rights, she should be conscious and shouting up a storm by now. The Doctor was stalking around the medbay like a caged tiger and it was getting on Jack’s last nerve.
“Doctor!” he finally snapped, whirling around to face him, “can’t you sit down for five minutes?! You’re not helping her by driving us barmy,” his arms were crossed in front of his chest as he doubted very seriously that the Doctor was paying him any mind.
“What if I was wrong? What if? What if I killed her or worse? What if she never wakes up at all?” the Doctor rambled on to nobody and everybody at the same time and suddenly appeared by Donna’s side in three long strides. He joined a pensive Wilf who was clinging to his granddaughter’s hand with a weary expression on his face.
Wilfred forced himself to look away from Donna and up at the Doctor. “Don’t,” he said simply. “Don’t you go doin’ that” the older man insisted. “My girl here, she’s not been happy, not really, a single day since you brought her back. Doin’ this, no matter what the outcome… It was the right thing to do, Doctor.” His voice was sure, but quiet as he turned back to the still form of Donna, he brushed a lock of hair away from her forehead, “I do wish we knew something though,” he muttered, more to himself than anyone else.
With a sigh, the Doctor leaned over the prone ginger and put his stethoscope in his ears, listening to her heartbeat for probably the hundredth time. The TARDIS shouted at him that she was monitoring all her vitals and that they were perfectly acceptable. Something he chose to ignore in favour of checking himself. He laid a hand upon her forehead and cast a worried eye at Wilf.
“Does she seems hot to you?” his voice held a measure of panic in it, and not for the first time that evening.
“Doctor!” Wilf groaned, “Jack’s right. You’re gonna regenerate if you don’t settle yourself down,” he cautioned.
Jack chuckled, “I’m gonna go grab us something to drink from the galley. Something strong,” he said pushing off from the wall.
The Doctor continued ignoring them both, his focus solely on Donna. He pressed his lips to her forehead instead, trying to get a more accurate temperature.
“You missed my lips, you great big outer space Dumbo,” a voice long too absent from the TARDIS seemed to reverberate throughout the room.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl, which for a Timelord was a feat unto itself. In the background, the Doctor could hear Jack whooping it up in celebration and next to him, Wilfred’s gasp of realisation. Still, the Doctor was much too used to things not going his way to let himself believe his Donna was truly back.
He slowly removed his lips from her forehead, only to hover over her in the medbay bed. His soft brown eyes closed of their own accord as he silently sent out a wish to the universe to please, <i>please </i> give him this one. Just this one little victory, please!
Before he could open them, two hands roughly gripped the lapels of his suit jacket and yanked him down to meet a warm, impossibly soft pair of lips. The Doctor’s eyelids flew open as Jack and Wilfred burst into spontaneous applause. Donna pressed her lips against his with furious intent and after a quick moment to process, he did just the same, his arms wrapping around her as he let his fingers luxuriate in her ginger hair, pulling it from its updo.
“You may kiss the bride!” shouted Wilf, wiping away tears of happiness as he jumped up to embrace Jack.
The celebration was cut short when the sound of a sharp slap split the air.
“Oi!” whined the Doctor, one hand plastered to the cheek where Donna slapped him. “What was that for?!”
Donna narrowed her eyes at him, “What part of I want to STAY, did you not bloody understand, Spaceman?!” she huffed.
The Doctor stammered, “But… but Donna… I…” He looked helplessly towards Jack and Wilfred, but they only shook their heads, covering their mouths with their hands to hide the laughter threatening to bubble forth.
“Don’t look at me, “ Jack interjected finally, “I’m not sure even I could come back after facing Donna’s rath,” he managed to get out before Wilf’s elbow met his ribcage in an attempt to silence him.
Donna swung her legs off the side of the bed and held her hand up to silence him. “No buts Doctor… No means NO. You just can’t get on without me can you?” she sighed, getting down off the bed.
Relieved for the moment, the Doctor dropped his hand from his tomato red cheek. The outline of her hand having not yet faded completely. “Nope. Not for a moment, Donna Noble. I’m simple impossible!” He beamed a mega watt smile at Donna and pulled her into a hug that he had no intention on ever releasing her from. His chin rested upon her shoulder as he took his first full breath since he set off in the TARDIS alone. “I suppose you’ll just have to stay with me forever then,” he sighed resolutely.”You know, to keep me in check.”
Donna pushed him away, a smirk tugging at her lips. “Oi! If someone didn’t know better, they might think you were proposin’ or somethin’, Martian Boy.” The TARDIS buzzed with excitement at the idea, the lights in the medbay suddenly glowing more brightly as she expressed her approval of the idea.
There was no way Jack was letting an opportunity like that go by with saying something! He raised a perfectly manicured brow at Wilfred before sauntering over towards the duo, hands jammed casually in his pockets. “You knoooow,” he began as he made his approach, a devil may care smile gracing his handsome features. “We have a beautiful woman here in a lovely wedding frock, and a church complete with a vicar…” he trailed off, nudging his way in between the two and looping an arm around each of them. “Not to mention, a devilishly handsome best man and someone to give the bride away.” He pointed out, nodding his head in the direction of a flabbergasted, yet delighted Wilfred Mott. “It would seem a shame to let all of that go to waste.”
<p>The Doctor wasn’t sure if he wanted to kill or kiss Jack in that moment. Hesitantly, he tried very subtly to glance at Donna out of the corner of his eye. Much to his surprise, she didn’t seem too upset about the idea. Stepping forward and out from under Jack’s arm, the Doctor’s hand tugged at his earlobe as he took his place in front of Donna.</p>
“He’s not wrong you know,” he said rather quietly, “and you know what they say? Third time’s the charm.” He grinned a sheepish smile at Donna as his hand slipped to rub the back of his neck before he thought better of it and quickly made a grab for her left hand instead. The simple act of holding hands with Donna made his spirits soar as he ran his thumb lightly over the back of her hand. It was a rather remarkable hand when he really thought about it. The way it fit so neatly into his like, just like it’s owner.
Donna gave Jack a not so subtle shove away as soon as the Doctor made his approach. She couldn’t believe what was going on here! When she woke up this morning, she had resolved herself to marrying Shaun and committing to a beans-on-toast kind of life. She had been okay with that.
Mostly
She told herself great romance was a fairy tale and that a nice, steady fella who could put up with her and vice versa was as good as anyone gets in this life. As for her lost memories? They were just that, lost. No one could miss what they could not remember, right? And that ache in her chest? That emptiness? Well, that was simply growing up and moving on now wasn’t it? She was going to marry Shaun, who was a perfectly nice bloke, work as a temp until she could collect her pension, and then wile away her twilight years in front of the telly with a nice cuppa until she fell over dead. Just like everyone else.
Problem was, Donna knew there was a day when she would have jumped at a chance for just that. But now? Now it simply felt wrong. Like less than nothing! Only she didn’t know why! What gave her such airs all of a sudden to think she deserved better?! She was nobody special! A bloody temp from Chiswick.
Only, here she was, back in the TARDIS with her memory restored, body evolving, and if she wasn’t mistaken the Doctor, her best mate, was about to ask her to marry him!
<p>Her eyes followed every nervous movement her Doctor made. The familiarity of it all blanketing Donna in a feeling of warmth and at peace for the first time in as long as she could remember. She listened as the Doctor spoke, her eyes widening as he mentioned the third time being the charm.</p>
“Oi! Why you cheeky…!” Donna sputtered indignantly, stopping only when the Doctor’s grin only continued to grow at the sound of her becoming flustered. “I’ll have you know the only reason I’ve had so many ruined weddings is because of YOU!” she huffed feeling slightly vindicated
<p>“Weeeeelllll,” he began head tilting slightly to the side as if contemplating his words, “maybe if you’d quit trying to marry the wrong bloke, I wouldn’t have to keep stopping your weddings,” he pointed out, righting his head on his shoulders and pulling her into him.</p>
“Oh really?” she asked, looking at him suspiciously, “and I suppose you know who the right man for me is then do you?” Donna threaded her fingers together loosely behind his neck.
“Oh yes!” he declared earnestly, wrapping his arms around her waist, “Someone brilliant. Well travelled. With really great hair… Snappy dresser too,” he grinned back at her.
“Let me guess,” she continued for him. “Tall. Skinny. Too skinny. Like so skinny if he turned sideways he’d disappear. Oh! And impulsive and….” She didn’t get to finish before the Doctor cut her off.
“Oi!” he interjected, making a face. “I’m right here you know,” he whined a bit dejectedly.
Donna laughed, “Oh shut up you and kiss me!” she insisted.
The Doctor grinned moving in to do just that when he stopped, leaving Donna bewildered and hanging when she snapped her eyes open.
<p>“Wait? So is that a Yes? Are you goin’ to marry me Donna Noble?” he asked, his voice anxious once again.</p>
Exhaling heavily Donna rolled her eyes, “YES you daft man! Yes, I will marry you, but I might change my mind if you don’t hurry up and kiss me!”
“Well we can’t have that now can we?” the Doctor replied sincerely as he leaned down to slide his lips gently against his brilliant Donna’s. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly, willing himself to absorb every second of this precious memory. The feel of Donna in his arms, the way his hearts were pounding inside his chest. The sound of his friends cheering in the background and the delicious scent of Donna’s lovely ginger locks warming all his senses as he silently promised to never let her go again.
“WOOT!” came a cheer from Donna’s grandfather as he rushed the couple, wrapping them both up in a bear hug! “There will be enough time for the two of you to be snoggin’ each other senseless later!” the old man told them, soliciting a few colourful comments from Jack. “We’ve got a wedding to attend!” he informed them, all but shoving Donna and the Doctor towards the TARDIS exit which somehow appeared before them.
The Doctor grinned down at Donna and the two of them looked at Wilf and then over at Jack. It was the Doctor who spoke however.
“You’re right as usual, Sir,” he grinned at him, separating himself from Donna and offering her his hand. “Everybody ready?” he took a deep breath “No backin’ out now is there?” he muttered which was met by an “Oi!” and a slap on the arm from Donna.
The Doctor grimaced and then laughed, looking down at his bride. “I’m kidding, Donna!” he insisted. Glancing at all the smiling faces in the room, the Doctor felt lighter than he had in centuries. Grinning like a loon, he burst through the door of the TARDIS into the dazzling early autumnal evening air>
“Allons-y! Come along everyone! We’ve got a wedding to get started!” he shouted tugging Donna by the hand as he sprinted back towards the now empty church.
