Singing in the Interplanetary Debris (A Who-verse musical) [Open, Donna]

Donna looked sleepily around the crowd. The dancing PC caught her eye and the look on his face was what she imagined mirrored her own. He went on dancing - he'd taken on a new partner - looking as though he was about to fall over from exhaustion. He was sweating, Donna could see it even from her distance, and his legs and arms moved on in spite of his clear state of fatigue. Suddenly, Donna wanted to cry. She was humming and no longer wanted to. She no longer felt the elation in the music...and the music in her head had changed. She could only feel despair and had no idea why.

"Doctor..." she tried again. She wanted his attention. Tears welled in her eyes and she didn't know why. "Doctor..." she sang in a low, sad vibrato. "Make it stop..."

"Doctor..." she tried again. She wanted his attention. Tears welled in her eyes and she didn't know why. "Doctor..." she sang in a low, sad vibrato. "Make it stop..."

The Doctor turned back to Donna. Her voice and expression were so sad he his whole face fell and he reached a hand out to touch her face, then stopped and picked up her hand instead.

"Hold on, I might just..." He smiled gently as he pulled the bio-dampener out of his pocket, holding it up. It seemed so long ago that they'd sat together, Donna in her wedding dress complaining about the size of his jacket.

"If I can just reverse the polarity of the dampener properties, it should dampen the frequencies of the signal I'm picking up." He put his glasses on, flashing the sonic screwdriver at the ring and poking his tongue out in thought as he worked. He then reached out to slide it onto her finger.

"It'll only work for you or anybody standing very close to you, though. We're going to have to find the source of the signal if we're to make this stop."

his whole face fell and he reached a hand out to touch her face, then stopped and picked up her hand instead.

He then reached out to slide it onto her finger.

"It'll only work for you or anybody standing very close to you, though. We're going to have to find the source of the signal if we're to make this stop."

Donna looked up at the Doctor, still tired, but feeling much less downtrodden. "Were we just about to have a bit of a moment, there, Doctor?" she joked, voice sounding small, but back to normal and not singing all the same. She smiled weakly and let out a sigh as she stood up straighter. "Right then, who should I stand near first? I know there's got to be some out there more tired than myself, even..."

She paused. "And whatever you just said is completely Chinese to me, but I trust you. Tell me what to do to help."

Hunting a thousand Weevils wouldn't leave Ianto as exhausted as he was right now - he had no idea how he was still standing, still open eyed and dancing, and singing, despite crying like a child who's too tired to go anywhere. Ianto felt hopeless as well as stupid, because he was Torchwood, he wasn't supposed to look ridiculous and defenseless and dancing in the middle of the street!

"I can't...live...if living is without...meeeee!" He sang, because this wasn't him. Ianto didn't dance in front of everybody. He hardly ever danced at all, he couldn't remember the last time he'd danced a slow, much less break dance and quick step and whatever else he'd ended up doing.

He felt like he was about to collapse, flat on the ground, but he kept going. For how long?

"Were we just about to have a bit of a moment, there, Doctor?"

The Doctor just smiled, patting Donna's hand before he let it go. "Life's full of moments," he said cryptically.

He couldn't help but grin widely though, when Donna straightened up and asked "Right then, who should I stand near first? I know there's got to be some out there more tired than myself, even..."

She paused. "And whatever you just said is completely Chinese to me, but I trust you. Tell me what to do to help."

"Always thinking of everyone else, Donna. That's why you're the best. They all look tired, so take your pick. Or, actually, we're going to need access to someplace high. Like a tall building. If we had somewhere with satellite access, it's possible I could maybe use a satellite dish to hone in on where this signal is coming from. So maybe one of the guys in suits would be able to help us."

The Doctor pointed to a nearby man who was morosely singing into his bluetooth connection while he danced. The poor man looked exhausted. "Maybe he could help us?"

(OoC: Apologies for being so slow.)

Nodding at the Doctor's directions, although the only part she'd understood was man in a suit; then the Doctor had pointed at a particularly exhausted-looking man in a crisp suit, singing into his bluetooth device and looking as though he wanted to cry. His face was twisted into a grimace very similar to the one Donna imagined she'd worn a few moments ago when she was too tired to move, but unable to stop.

"Excuse me, sir?" she asked, coming up behind him, gently tapping him on the shoulder. "Just...look at me for a moment," she said to him. "I can make it stop for you. But I need to know if you can help us make it stop for everyone." Donna spoke as clearly as she could, enunciating all of the words almost to an exaggeration so that he would be able to tell right off that she was not singing. When he looked at her, he would also be able to see that she was no longer dancing and would be able to stop the madness in his own head, while he was at it. "Sir," she said, tapping him again.

((OOC: I assume the man in the suit with the bluetooth is Ianto?))

Ianto looked back at a red haired lady talking to him about helping. But he was too exhausted and freaked out to do anything, and he hadn't stopped dancing yet.

However, she'd spoken about making it stop, and he was all too interested in that, no doubt.

"Yes, I will, I will help you if you help me!" He sang, hopefully for the last time. He wasn't dancing so madly, now, just merely tapping his feet on the ground.

((OOC: I assume it was my turn?))

"Right, then, just relax. What's your name?" Donna asked him, resting a hand on his shoulder as he began to slow down. "It'll stop. It takes a minute, just stay close to me. I've got this...thing," she explained lamely, showing the man her ring. "Blocks the signal. So stay close," she stressed to him.

Ianto, still softly swaying next to the red haired woman, nodded at her, albeit a little suspicious.

She had been telling the truth, though, because in about a minute or two he stopped completely, cleared his throat, and tried to speak:

"Is it gone?" He'd seen it was. He was speaking as usual again. He smiled gratefully at the woman. "Whatever you need. Thank you."

Donna smiled gently at the man. She noticed that he'd declined to give his name and she found that a bit suspicious, but decided to ignore it in favor of the greater good.

"My friend thinks he can stop this for everyone...but we need to gain access to higher ground; much higher ground. Rooftop of a tall building, for example. If you can help us, that would be brilliant. If you can't, just stay close while I try to find someone else who can. I'm not sure you'll remain immune if you go wandering off," she warned. "Also, we're hoping somewhere with satellite access, if that's worth anything to you..." she added, in hopes that clarifying would make it easier for the man to know whether he would be able to help or not.

Somewhere with satellite access... Could be any building. He could just say he was with Torchwood, and they'd let them in anywhere. He'd learned that from Jack. Ianto nodded.

"It can be any building with a satellite dish on top, but the tallest one is two blocks from here." He said, waiting for the other two to yay or nay it.

Donna nodded at him. She decided to try again. "My name's Donna," she offered. "Thank you..." she let the sentence hang a moment as she glanced briefly over her shoulder to see if the Doctor was near them or at least in earshot. The man had agreed to help them. Now, they'd just need to wait on the Doctor to come along.

"Uh...Ianto." He said, shaking her hand. "Whenever you're ready." He assured her, smiling politely.

The Doctor was just a few steps away, busily scanning the air and the ground again, making little thoughtful noises as he did. It was decidedly odd, like his readings were making no sense. The signal seemed to be coming from everywhere at once.

At Donna's introductions, he turned, offering his hand to Ianto. "Ianto is it? Brilliant! Lead the way then. Maybe we can find out what's causing this signal."

Ianto shook the man's hand and began walking down the street, dodging mad dancers here and there, pointing to where they all should turn left or right, when appropriate.

They reached the highest building within walking distance, an office tower of sorts.

"Right, well, we can just walk in, step into the lift and get to the last floor, and then take the stairs." He suggested. He supposed not many people would notice them, and if they did, he'd just flash his card.

Donna followed very close to Ianto, not wanting him to get out of whatever the radius was which kept the signal blocked from him.

"You're the boss," she replied, going out of her way not to specify which of the two men to whom she was speaking.

"Sounds good to me." The Doctor walked with purpose toward the nearest lift and hit the button for the top floor.

Ambient music, complete with a flute and alto saxophone, greeted them inside. The Doctor flashed the speakers with his screwdriver and the sound stopped. The sudden silence wasn't all that more comfortable.

Donna followed the Doctor into the elevator. Without really realizing she was doing so, she'd closed a hand around Ianto's wrist. She didn't want to accidentally lose him and send the poor man back into the dancing and singing; he still looked tired and, besides, he was willing to help them.

It would've been an understatement to say that Donna was glad when the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to shut off the music, but on the other hand, it felt almost equally as awkward in silence...

Ianto was still trying to collect his thoughts as they took the lift up to the last floor, and the sudden unexplainable silent made him look around, awkwardly, but he didn't speak. He had to concentrate in helping these people make it stop.

No mind power for questions, either, although he very much liked to know what was happening and who they were, he couldn't muster the strenght to ask. They weren't speaking, but he appreciated the silence after all that time of music in his ears, without him having a choice.

The building, being a busy one, was filled with people needing to use the lift, and Ianto found himself thinking of a way to make it go straight up, with no interruptions.

"It's going to take a while longer than it should, with us stopping on every floor to collect and drop people..." He said to nobody in particular.

"It's going to take a while longer than it should, with us stopping on every floor to collect and drop people..."

Donna looked over at Ianto. "D'you think we ought to take the stairs, then?" she asked. He had a point, after all. And Donna wasn't a very big fan of being cramped, which was exactly what was likely to happen if they stayed in the lift much longer.

Ianto shrugged.

"It's about thirty floors...Your call." He said, emotionless. The exhaustion was taking its toll, now.

When he replied, there was no note of emotion in his voice and suddenly Donna felt for him. He'd been in the process of what had looked a bit like a breakdown, when she'd reached him to block the signal. She looked over at the Doctor to see if he'd noticed and then looked back at Ianto. "Are you all right?" she asked gently.

Ianto frowned deeply, sweating just a bit. He nodded, anyway.

"I'm alright, just tired. Don't worry." He said, not as certain of what he was saying as he thought he ought to be. He was certain, though, that he couldn't take the stairs, not right that moment.

The Doctor looked from Donna to Ianto. Ianto didn't look like he was about to run up a bunch of stairs any time soon.

"Don't worry, we're on the express." He carefully popped the control panel and flashed the wiring inside with the sonic screwdriver. "Going up!"

Looking at Ianto more closely, The Doctor gestured to his Bluetooth device.

"A friend of mine used to use one of those. It connects to a mobile, right? Which means it sends out a signal. I could probably change it like I did the biodampener. It'd let you move away from Donna, without dancing."

As he spoke the lift dinged and the doors swung open, alerting the that they'd reached their destination.

"Who says I want him to be able to move away from me?" Donna joked feebly. "Speak English, Doctor," she said seriously. "When you talk like that with all your technobabble I feel like an idiot."

The lift dinged to alert them to their arrival at their final destination. "Right then...off we go?" she asked as the doors slid open.