Title: Space-Sick
Genre: Doctor Who
Rating: T (see the title to know why)
Author:
tkel_parisSummary: No one ever mentioned this possible side-effect of traveling in the TARDIS.
Disclaimer: The BBC et al owns the characters, the series... I own my imagination.
Dedication:
hezikiah. I don't remember which one of us came up with the idea.Author's Note: Written in less than an hour at a Starbucks, sitting next to
hezikiah as she wrote Busted. And barely edited. So all mistakes are my own.Space-Sick
Started February 17, 2014
Finished February 20, 2014
When she had first traveled with the Doctor, Donna had only experienced a rough journey when the Empress dragged them back through time. She’d had to hold on tight to the console with all the strange buttons and levers, but she managed.
This time the TARDIS was lurching violently, bouncing from one time eddy to another. That’s what he called these rough patches, causing what he called turbulence. She wondered whether he was simplifying things for her, but at that moment she couldn’t have cared.
“Stop us somewhere!” she screamed.
The Doctor blinked, startled from his mad flicking of switches. “What?!”
“Stop us somewhere!” she repeated.
“You mean land?”
“Just so I can open those doors a moment!”
“Donna-”
“Do it!” she choked.
Eye wide, he quickly switched to pull a lever and pressed several buttons in rapid succession. The bouncing and tilting motions soon drew to an abrupt halt.
“We’re in the middle of space above Clom, Donna.”
She flew to the doors.
He followed, horrified. “Donna!”
She opened the doors and stuck her head over the edge. The sounds of retching exploded from her lips.
He slid to a stop behind her. “Oh.”
If she could’ve, she would’ve verbally slapped him with a retort. But her stomach was busy losing her breakfast of nutrient cubes that had tasted like bacon and eggs.
Sighing, he pulled out his sonic, fiddled with the settings, and then ran it over her from behind.
Donna was just aware enough of her surroundings to pick up on the frequency. She groaned, “Stop bleeping me!”
“It’ll help your inner ear adjust to travelling in the TARDIS,” he softly explained. “Sorry, I forgot that human balance isn’t always quick to adjust to this kind of life.”
Trying to catch her breath, she managed to look at him over her shoulder. “And you didn’t think to warn me?”
“I said I’m sorry. Too much stuff in my head, I forget what I need to remember sometimes. It’s been a little while since I last had anyone in here.”
He had admitted that more time had passed for him since seeing her than had for her. Which meant that it’d been a while since Martha had been around. She took a few deep breaths and sighed. “Yeah, well, it’s been ages since I was sick like this. I don’t get sea-sick, and I’ve been on roller-coasters. I don’t know where this came from.”
“It’s probably because this is more than your inner ears, where your balance receptors are located, aren’t used to this much motion. And there’s the TARDIS and how time moves. What your body is used to isn’t matching anything you’re experiencing, and…” He motioned to outside, where they could both see the liquid and chunks flying in a pattern that would’ve looked at home on a Jackson Pollock painting.
She sighed. “We can talk about this later, once you find something to get the taste out of my mouth. And I lost my vitamins with that, Spaceman.”
“Come, I’ve got what you need in the infirmary.”
“You have an infirmary?”
“I’ve learned the hard way to expect companions to get sick on occasion, or need first aid. Sometimes I was the one who needed it. And I do have the ability to diagnose.”
“You mean you’re an actual doctor of human medicine?”
“Yes.” He got a distant look in his eyes. “Spent some time stuck on Earth, and picked up medical training. Thought I might as well with the title ‘Doctor’, and it worked out well. Even helped with several deliveries.”
Donna rubbed her eyes with one hand, shutting the door with the other. “And I’m supposed to believe that?”
“I’ll prove it by making your nausea go away.”
She started to roll her eyes but had to close them instead. “Ooh…”
He gently took her arm. “Here, I can lead you.” He waited to see if she would agree.
“Okay,” she whispered. “I hate feeling this way, so let’s see what you’ve got in that infirmary, Martian Boy. Then let’s go on an adventure.”
He grinned as they walked slowly out of the Control Room. Knowing that the Old Girl would make the walking time as short as possible, he thought about where they would go for her first proper adventure. Something historical sounded lovely, somewhere he’d never been or hadn’t been to in a long time.
Ooh! Ancient Rome! Perfect, he thought. The time it took him to treat her would let him decide whether to arrive BCE or CE. He had to make it something special, to make her happy.
The one good thing about her having this sick fit? It might satisfy the trouble quotient for the day.
THE END
- Current Location:my spare space
- Current Mood:
mischievous - Current Music:Pat Benatar - Hit Me With Your Best Shot
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Comments
Is it wrong that I laughed at this? Donna hurled on Klom, and I find that somehow fitting. "Who'd want Klom?" after that, LOL!
Cute fic. Although the sick fit didn't satisfy their trouble quotient, not by a long shot. Next stop: Pompeii on "Volcano Day." :-(
Nope. Which is why I had to use that line.
Well, I always wondered how his companion's could handle the shaky fly so well so that was a nice missing scene for the head-canon :D
Yeah, makes you wonder, doesn't it? :D
Stop the car, open up the window! Poor Donna. Silly Doctor, there are a lot of things he neglects to tell his passengers! He should have a list (based on species, of course) of things to tell passengers when they first come on board. One of them should be the presence of an infirmary when they get sick. Another might be regeneration; I'm sure at least Donna would have taken it a whole lot better if she had known about it. (I won't get into Rose's reaction the second time around; she'd rather he died than changed?)
He's delivered babies? When, and whose? Trust him to start rambling on and on when Donna needs to be tended to.
Right... I'd say the trouble's just beginning!
Ah, that list. Would make for a good slightly crack fic. :DDDD (And let's not get into companion reactions to regeneration...)
He's the universe's biggest gob. What do you expect? :P
It would be hilarious, a "Guide to Life in the TARDIS; What you need to know." He could hand them a copy when they join up.
Anyway, the idea of Donna secretly writing her own guide to TARDIS travel suddenly amused me. I can imagine her providing maps, ratings for facilities and everything. And I am very impressed with how much you achieved here with your synchronised write-a-thon. :DDDD
I wonder if hezikiah and I will wind up writing that one... :D
I love the idea of a Companion's Handbook!
Who the heck's baby has the Doctor delivered? Inquiring minds want to know!
Wanna start notes for the Companions' Handbook? Gotta think back all the way to the beginning. :D
As for BMG's comment about Donna's nausea, that would have been really quick action on the Doctor's part (well, I guess Donna would have had something to say about it, too, especially since she said he wasn't mating with her!)... so not yet, anyway. Would be interesting, though.... and ongoing for quite a while. Men weren't designed for that, were they? One day of that and they'd be whining like crazy!