So I was wondering if John and River would be able to hear the same thing as Jenny, and decided that they would, though maybe not as clearly, since they're only part-Time lord. And also, I put Martha and Mickey living in Oxford because it was convenient as to where Will and Dr Malone are. They could be living anywhere, really, right?
Anyway, hope you enjoy the second part, and I'm sorry if the ever-growing character list is confusing you. I know it's a pretty bad idea to have so many characters, but I think I did already mention that this fic would be random and crazy, and most likely no good, so ...
Part II
"Dad?" Jenny asked gently, horrified by what she'd just heard. The others, who had no idea what was going on – apart from River and John, who looked like the may have heard something, at least; they glanced at each other and then at the Doctor and Jenny quickly, looking confused – were asking countless questions. They were all unanswered, and Jenny's along with them.
"What happened to her?" Jenny persisted.
For some strange reason, this snapped her father out of his trance. He looked at her.
"Meta-crisis, remember?" he asked softly. "It didn't just create John –" his eyes flickered to the person in question, "– it gave Donna my brain, and –"
"A human can't have a Time lord brain," Jenny cut him off. "It'd burn them up. What did you do, wipe her memory?"
He blinked several times in surprise, before nodding. "How did you know that?"
"I went to a planet called the library," said Jenny, smiling a little as memories flooded her – she could almost smell the books; she loved the smell of books. "Imagine, a whole pla—" she faltered, "… you know it?"
He merely nodded in response, eyes beseeching her not to press him for more information. She dropped it.
"What are you going to do about Donna?"
"There must be something," he muttered, dropping his gaze back to the instrument still held in his hands, which had turned white at the intensity of his grip. He released it.
Is there anything I can do?
The needle swung around the alethiometer's surface, contemplating.
Possibly
Jenny thought this a rather cheeky answer, but it was better than nothing, at least. Then a follow-up: Your access to the future may be able to aid you, along with your friends' abilities
"What does that mean?" Jenny asked.
"New Earth!" John exclaimed suddenly, proving that he had indeed heard. "They had a cure for everything!"
"Even this?" River sounded doubtful.
"Would anyone like to tell us what's going on?" Amy asked, irritated.
"The alethiometer's saying that we need Donna, if we're going to save the universes" said the Doctor, eyes downcast. "But –"
"Donna can't remember anything that happened while we travelled together, or she'd burn up and die," said John, in a hollow voice, his momentary excitement gone.
"Do you think the … people at New New York would be able to help?" Rose asked.
"They cured people with every illness," the Doctor shrugged.
"That was you."
"It was their medicine," John said.
"So … off to Chiswick?"
"Off to Chiswick."
Wilfred Mott led a quiet life after Donna's wedding. He still watched the stars, and thought of the Doctor every night, as he promised he would, but he never mentioned anything, in Donna's best interests.
Still, his granddaughter experienced those frightening moments when she stood still, gingerly touching her head and complaining that it pained her. And those moments when she looked so sad, but when asked why, she could not come up with an answer.
Wilf explained to Shaun what had happened to Donna; he felt that the man should know, considering that it was him who would have to deal with Donna's off moments now.
They still lived in the small flat, despite the lottery win. Donna's argument was that she liked it there, and it was closer to where her mother and grandfather lived. Shaun could only agree.
The night before the first wedding anniversary of his granddaughter and her husband, Wilf sat in his usual spot 'up the hills', watching the stars and drinking tea from a thermos flask. Donna had joined him earlier, but gone back again when a fresh bout of head pain hit her. She was by now masking them as headaches, so as not to worry people, but he knew better.
He wondered where the Doctor was now, and whether he was alone. He hoped not; he'd grown attached to the man that was – impossibly – older than him, and did not want him to be on his own. Surely one of those friends was with him.
He was almost positive that he heard the sound that that blue box made, but convinced himself that it was only because of where his thoughts had led him – yet again.
"Going daft in my old age," he muttered, drinking the last of the tea and packing up his telescope, bracing himself for his daughter's wrath.
But, despite the attempts of Wilfred Mott to convince himself otherwise, the TARDIS had landed, though too far away for him to possibly have heard it.
The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS on his own, surveying his surroundings. He recognised a figure walking down the street from a long way off; Wilfed Mott. He smiled as the figure did a double-take at the sight of the TARDIS, but he continued to walk until he reached it.
"Hello Wilf," he smiled.
"… is it you?"
"Yeah, what do you think?" he held out his arms for inspection.
"You did change, then," the old man murmured.
He nodded.
"You look even younger."
"Funny how that happens," the Doctor mused. "How's Donna?"
"Still in that flat, winning the lottery didn't change anything. Still, she's happy with Shaun."
"Good, I'm glad."
"Come in and see her?" Wilf requested. "She lives just up the road a bit. Come and say hello."
"I suppose she doesn't know this face …" the Doctor allowed himself to be led across the road and over to where Donna lived.
Wilf knocked on the door.
Donna was laughing as she opened it. "Heya Gramps. Still trying to escape Mum, are you?" she noted the flask he held in one hand and telescope in the other.
"Something like that."
"Who're you?" she asked.
"Hello, I'm the Doctor," he smiled, deciding to be truthful and see what effect it had on Donna. He still had no idea how to go about this.
"Doctor who?" she asked curiously, and then her hand jumped to her head.
"Are you all right, sweetheart?"
"Yeah, it's just that … headache again. It won't leave me alone. I'm Donna. Donna Temple-Noble. Pleased to meet you," she offered a hand.
The Doctor shook it. "And you."
He saw her eyes glow faintly orange for a fraction of a second, but she did not seem distressed, she merely smiled.
"Come in then, I'll make tea."
Donna led the two of them into the kitchen, where Shaun was sitting at the table, reading a book. He put it down with a smile. "Hello Wilf, and …?"
"The Doctor," he smiled back, offering a hand. Shaun shook it, frowning momentarily.
"The –?"
"Yes," Wilf said, conveying with his eyes that this was the man he'd told Shaun about, and that he was not to mention anything in front of Donna.
"Who calls themselves, 'the Doctor'?" Donna asked, turning to face him as she filled the kettle.
"Me," he replied simply. "I have absolutely no idea why."
"Are you even a Doctor?" she frowned.
"Yes."
"Of what?"
"Everything."
"You look like you've barely even finished college," Donna said, sitting down at the table with a soft sigh. Her hand suddenly jumped to her temple and her eyes flashed orange – more noticeable this time. Shaun glared at the Doctor.
"I need the bathroom," she muttered, a moment later, rising from the table and disappearing down the hall.
"What's wrong?" Wilf asked, getting up to finish the tea.
"I need her," the Doctor rubbed his forehead. "Every universe and every creature in them are in danger, and apparently we need Donna to save us. Again."
"I thought she could never remember?" Shaun asked.
"She can't. But I think she might be all right. I'm going to take her to a hospital in the future. I've been there before; they have a cure for everything."
"And if that doesn't work?" Wilf frowned.
"I'll take her memories back and leave her home. I'm not going to put her life in danger any more than I already have."
The silent question hung in the air.
"All right," both men said at the same moment, just as Donna returned.
"Donna?" the Doctor asked. "I think I might be able to help your headache."
She looked at him in surprise. "Really?"
He nodded. "Yes. Just … relax, ok?"
He walked over to her, pressing his fingers to either side of her head. She closed her eyes and allowed him to, showing a strange amount of trust to someone she'd just met – perhaps she still remembered him, at the very back of her mind.
He let the memories he had taken from her all that time ago to flow back into her head, making a last-minute decision to include his own memories of what had happened when he brought her home, and that of his regeneration, so that she would know who he was.
He stood back, watching her concernedly as her eyes flickered open. She blinked several times, her eyes glowing orange yet again. They returned to their normal colour and seemed to focus.
Donna took a deep breath, looking around at her surroundings.
Then she slapped him.
He couldn't help but smile as he touched his smarting cheek.
"Oi, Spaceman!" she exclaimed indignantly. "I said I wanted to travel with you forever, and what did you do? Wipe my memory and dump me back home!"
She glared at him for several moments, then her expression softened and she hugged him instead.
"Have you changed at all? You're just as skinny!" she said, as she released him. "Well then, what's happened that you've had to put my life in danger?"
"The walls between the universes are breaking down. Again."
She smiled. "Right! Sounds like fun. We'll skip the tea." She kissed her grandfather on the cheek, her husband on the lips and disappeared into the hall with a "bye!"
"Do you want to come with us?" the Doctor asked, mainly directing the question at Wilf.
"No, you two go and save the world," he smiled.
The Doctor nodded. "Right, see you soon."
He followed Donna into the hall, where she'd put on her coat – the same leather one from the last time she'd been with him.
"Are you ok?" he asked her.
"I'm strong," she said. "I'll be fine. I'm sure I'll hold out until you give me this treatment I know you're planning."
She opened the door and stepped out into the chilly night air.
"She looks a little different," Donna remarked, striding across the street.
"Even more on the inside," the Doctor said, opening the door and stepping inside.
The people assembled inside looked up, looking relieved to find that Donna was amongst them and all right – for now.
"Hello half-me," she said, sitting next to John on the bottom of the staircase. "What'd you end up calling yourself?"
"John Smith," he murmured in response. "Hello Donna."
"Hello," she repeated, smiling.
"You should sit down," the Doctor said, with a slight frown. "You know what's going to happen next."
"I am sitting down," she said, gesturing to the step she was sitting on, though she knew he probably meant a proper seat. "And I told you, I'm strong. I lasted a while last time, it'll be the same this time. Anyway, where are you taking me?"
"New New York," the Doctor answered, flipping switches at the console. "And if that doesn't work, Sisters of the Infinite Schism."
The TARDIS materialised on a street corner in the outskirts of Oxford, unbeknownst to its residents, apart from a old woman who had been looking out of her kitchen window – but the perception filter did its job; she did not question its appearance.
Martha Smith-Jones stirred sugar into the mug of tea she'd made her husband, placing it on the table next to the laptop, which he was working on. She picked up her own mug, wrapping her hands around it as she leaned against the countertop and studied Mickey with a contemplative frown.
"What are you doing?" she asked, part-curiously, part-suspiciously. "You're not breaking into UNIT again, are you? I told you, you can't do that."
Mickey merely laughed, a glint in his eye. Martha shook her head at him, but her reprimand was drowned out by a sudden, never-ceasing pounding on the front door.
She laid her mug down with a sigh that was almost exasperated, touching Mickey's shoulder gently to let him know that she'd answer it, though he probably knew that already.
"All right!" she called, as she hurried down the hall. "I'm coming! You can stop!"
But still the hammering did not cease until she had opened it. She stood there, open-mouthed, as her eyes moved around, taking in the scene before her.
A young woman, strikingly familiar with her long blonde hair, secured in a pony-tail down her back, and mysterious eyes, which held a panicked look, stood in the doorway. Behind her, parked across the street on the corner, also achingly familiar, was a blue box.
"… what?" Martha managed to ask, but her voice was barely above a whisper, and a clearly alive Jenny appeared not to hear it. She quickly began to explain the situation.
"Martha! You need to come with me, quickly; it's Donna! She's really ill. We don't know what to do, but maybe you and Rory could –"
"What's wrong with her?" Martha asked, finding her voice as she snapped into her 'doctor mode', as Mickey called it.
"She's burning up," Jenny explained, a little calmer but just as quickly, the urgent tone in her voice still present. "It's the meta-crisis, she can't cope with everything in her head. We need you! Please!"
Martha nodded immediately, brushing past Jenny. She turned around to face her again, "Tell Mickey, would you?"
As the young woman who was much younger than she appeared nodded, Martha hurried over to the TARDIS. The door was slightly ajar; she pushed it open rather cautiously. She found herself in a different-looking and deserted console room.
"Hello?" she called.
A man with short brown hair, looking rather distressed, with his sleeves rolled up, appeared at the top of one of the staircases.
"You must be Martha. I'm Rory. This way."
"Jenny mentioned you … how's Donna?" Martha asked, as she hurriedly climbed the glass stairs.
"Better. I think she might make it out of this alive. We took her to new Earth, they gave her something …"
Martha followed Rory up the stairs and along a corridor to the med bay.
The scene that met her eyes was crazed. Donna was laid on one of the beds that were unlike any hospital beds that Martha had seen – still with that build, but more comfortable, from what she could see. She looked as though she were experiencing a fretful nightmare. The Doctor – or was it the clone? Martha could never be sure any more – Rose and a man she did not recognise with floppy brown hair were gathered around her bedside, trying to improve her condition. Two women, one with brown hair and one with red, stood quite nearby, trying to assist the three in any way they could. A group of onlookers were sitting on or gathered around another bed. Martha recognised none of them. Jenny and Mickey had arrived. Both stayed by the doorway while Martha and Rory made a beeline for Donna.
Together, they checked her vital signs. Martha was surprised to find the situation less grave than she had imagined. Rory was right – Donna was more or less out of danger, but she had a fever. Her brain seemed quite all right, however.
"What happened?" Martha asked.
"The meta-crisis. It created me, but it fed back into Donna," said the man that had to be the clone. "No human can deal with a Time lord brain. I can, because I was created like this. I'm John, by the way," he added, as if he'd read Martha's mind.
"I wiped her memories, so she could survive," said the other man, who had to be the Doctor. "But she could never remember … then Lyra's –" he nodded towards the girl with the dark-blonde curls, who was sitting on the other bed – "alethiometer told us that we needed Donna, to fight whatever it is that's caused this."
"She's got a fever, but I think she'll be all right," Martha said. "What is 'this', exactly?"
"The walls between the universes have collapsed," Rose said. "How else would we be here?"
Martha frowned at the 'we', but did not mention it. "What's causing it? It can't be the same as last time; the earth's in the same place."
"No; but something's happened," the redhead sighed.
"When did you regenerate?" Martha asked the Doctor.
"Just after I saw you and Mickey," he murmured in response, eyes flickering surreptitiously to the door, where Mickey still stood.
"I never said thanks for saving us from that Sontaran," Martha managed a smile.
"It's the least I could do," he shrugged.
Martha nodded, focusing her attention back to Donna, who was still tossing and turning, though slightly less so, at least. Martha pulled out a stethoscope.
"Can you get inside her head?" she asked, eyes flickering to John. "You're connected, right? Can you see what she's dreaming about; maybe calm her down?"
He took Donna's hand, closing his eyes. "It's just memories …"
A moment later, Donna fell still, breathing deeply. Martha smiled in thanks, listening to Donna's heartbeat. She was relieved to find it strong.
Unconsciously, she moved the stethoscope over to the left side of Donna's chest, and froze. She tried again, biting her lip.
"Martha?"
She looked up slowly; everyone was looking at her.
"There's a heartbeat … it's faint, but it's there."
They all gaped.
"Donna's got two hearts."
They simply stared, unable to form a proper reaction. Rose spoke first, startled, "…what?"
"Listen," Martha said, handing the stethoscope to her. She took it, placing it in her ears and listening. Her confusion seemed only to heighten. Rory walked off, mumbling, "I'll get her something for the fever …"
"It must be her body's reaction to the Time lord brain …" John murmured in a matter-of-fact tone. "It needs two hearts to support it."
"How did this happen?" Rose asked, looking around at everyone's faces. They all seemed as surprised as her, however.
"There's never been a Human-Time lord meta-crisis before," the Doctor murmured, eyes flickering from Donna's sleeping form to John's concerned face. "We don't know the circumstances."
"So Donna's going to be all right?" Jenny asked, looking as though she was torn between worry and happiness. Donna was out of the woods – if the fever was not taken into account – but her extra heart had everyone concerned about her health again.
"Yes, I think so," said Martha, flashing a smile at the girl. "If we can bring down this fever … did you find any medicine?"
Rory nodded, opening his hand to reveal a small bottle of fever pills. Martha shook Donna gently. Her eyes flickered open.
"Donna?"
"Martha?" she murmured blearily.
"How d'you feel?" Martha asked.
"Awful," she muttered in response.
"You've got a fever," Martha explained gently.
"Here, take this," Rory opened the container and handed it to Donna, who managed to prop herself up on her elbows. Rose handed her a glass of water. She took the pills, sitting up and leaning back against the pillows. She gave the tiniest of yawns.
"I still haven't forgiven you, space-man," she glowered at the Doctor. Her eyes turned to John. "And there's no point in you feeling guilty. It's not your fault. You didn't make me touch that hand of yours."
"Are you sure you're all right?" he asked tentatively, sitting on the edge of the bed.
"My head feels fine," she assured him. "Though I do have a pain in my chest; it's the fever I suppose."
He merely nodded, not revealing anything.
Donna's eyes moved around the room, eyes lingering on the people she had only just met – she remembered most of their names. "How are you alive?" she asked Jenny, who was leaning against the wall near the door, watching the scene. "Never got a chance to ask, with my head and everything …"
"I don't know," the young woman replied, shrugging. "I woke up, not long after you'd all left. No idea what happened to me. I must have regenerated – sort of."
Donna nodded, yawning again, more widely this time.
"You should sleep," said Rory. "You'll be all right now. These seem to work better than normal ones would …"
"Who exactly are you?" Donna frowned at him. "Sorry," she added, at his expression. "My brain was burning up at the time, you know."
"Rory Williams," he answered. "And this is my wife –"
"Amy, yes I remember her …"
Amy laughed, walking over to her husband and putting an arm around his shoulders. "C'mon, I'm sure she would've remembered you if her brain hadn't been on fire."
"It wasn't on fire."
"D'you remember us?"
"Let's see," Donna murmured. "Harry, Ginny, Hermione, Ron, Lyra, River, Sherlock and … Molly?"
"Yeah," she smiled.
"Pleased to meet you," Donna smiled. And then, "Right, you lot, out!"
There was not a whole lot she could do from her bed; she did push John off from where he was still sitting. He landed on the ground in an ungraceful heap. Rose laughed, offering a hand to him. He scowled, but allowed her to pull him to his feet. Donna rolled her eyes at his appalling co-ordination. "Things must be bad if you need to put my life in danger. Go – save the universes."
Sending smiles to the 'patient', the entire group trooped out of the med bay, leaving only John, who was still concerned about the one he was connected to, and Rose lingered by the door.
I'm fine," Donna grumbled, shoving him. He moved away quickly, not wanting to be pushed over again. "Get out of here; go. I mean it; I'm getting up if you don't go!" she added when he still did not move.
"You're sure you'll be all right?"
"If I'm not, you'll sure know about it."
John smiled. That sounded more like the Donna he knew. He nodded, leaving the med bay.
"What?" he frowned, as Rose, leaning against the doorframe, gave him an amused look.
"She's your best friend, isn't she? I've never seen you like that with anyone before."
He nodded as they walked down the hall.
"When d'you think she'll realise she's got two hearts?" Rose murmured, not expecting an answer, and none was given.
In the console room, someone – Hermione, John suspected, but it could have been any of the four – had turned the two seats into couches, which had just enough space to seat most of them – John still sat on the steps, preferring it there. The Doctor, River and Lyra remained on their feet. The Doctor and River were both, for some reason, looking at the scanner, while Lyra lurked nearby. She was annoyed at herself; her personality had always been brash and bold, and yet she found herself holding some degree of respect for the Doctor. It was absurd; he was the most childish person she'd ever come across – including actual children. Pantalaimon had curled himself around her neck, and was hissing in her ear to try and get her to talk to the Time lord.
He looked up, "Are you going to stand there all day?" he asked, sounding somewhat amused. "What's wrong?"
"I have two friends in this Oxford," she explained. "I was wondering if they could come with us."
"Of course they can!" the Doctor exclaimed, seeming somehow, even more child-like than ever. "The more the merrier! Unless they're Daleks or Cybermen or something. We've got plenty of room! Where do they live?"
"In the town …" Lyra answered, just restraining herself from rolling her eyes.
No sooner had she said it than the Doctor and River, in sync, walked around the console, flipping switches and levers and pressing buttons. They were so in tune; Lyra had never before seen a couple like it. This made her heart ache, and then leap, almost in the same second, at the prospect of seeing Will again. She allowed the thought to cross her mind, for a fleeting moment, that he could have a girlfriend.
"Of course he doesn't," Pantalaimon muttered in her ear, in a tone so matter-of-fact that Lyra smiled. The TARDIS landed as noisily as ever, despite River's argument over the misuse of the stabilisers. Lyra was out the door almost immediately, but, once there, she realised she had no idea where to go from there. She did not know where Will or Dr Malone lived. They could've even moved to a different city or country, for all she knew.
Looking at it logically, with the help of Pantalaimon, Lyra decided to visit the place where Dr Malone had once worked. Perhaps they would give her an address, and, even if it were an old one, it was somewhere to start.
She had almost reached the building when something caught her eye. It was a cat, but a cat like no other.
It was Kirjava.
Donna did not have any more nightmares – at least any she remembered. She fell asleep not long after she had successfully gotten rid of John, and woke up a while later, though which time, she did not know.
She felt remarkably better – Rory was right, the pills worked very well. She did not seem to have a fever of any kind, and her head was not hurting her at all. She silently thanked the strange cat-faced people of New New York, who had injected something into her arm which had knocked her out, but apparently had healed her.
Strangely, however, the pain in her chest was still there.
It was not excruciating, and she could easily forget it if she put her now-enhanced mind to it, but it still bothered her. She could not tell what the Doctor was thinking – perhaps the link between them had been weakened somewhat by his regeneration – but she knew that John was still worrying about her, even now. She smiled slightly, though she felt irritated all the same. He was getting to be too much like an over-protective brother, though their bond was much the same, she supposed. They did share some of the same traits, after all.
She had successfully blocked out the pain in her chest, so she eased herself out of the more-comfortable-than-usual bed and wandering out of the med bay, probing the TARDIS's consciousness with her own mind, asking to be guided to the console room and the others.
Lyra wove her way through the crowded Oxford streets. Luckily for her, Kirjava, her guide, was clearly visible – the colour of her fur stood out. The two dæmons had greeted each other immediately, and Lyra had felt a rush of warmth at Pantalaimon's happiness.
That happiness had spread to her now, as she and her dæmon followed the cat to where Will lived.
They reached a quieter street, filled with terraced houses, a pub and a corner shop. Kirjava led them to number six, and then, with surprising strength and agility, jumped onto her back paws and pressed the doorbell with a front paw.
The door opened almost immediately, by a tall boy Lyra did not recognise; he was around her age - give or take a year, perhaps - and had mousy brown hair and bright blue eyes that sparkled. He seemed to have been expecting Kirjava, as his eyes went immediately to the ground.
"Will!" he called over his shoulder. "Kirjava's ba-! Oh ..." he seemed to notice Lyra only then. "Who are you?"
"My name's Lyra Silvertongue," she smiled at him. "And this is my dæmon, Pantalaimon. I was a friend of Will's ..."
The boy raised his eyebrows at her as though he knew. Perhaps he did.
"Jake!" called a voice Lyra did recognise. "What's going on?"
Jake merely flashed a smile at Lyra. "Jake Malone. Do come in."
He stood to the side, letting Lyra pass through. Kirjava padded into the house first, muttering to herself. Lyra, Pantalaimon around her neck, followed.
As she walked into the kitchen, a mug smashed.
Two faces stared blankly at her, unable to utter a word. Neither Lyra nor Jake spoke either, but the dæmons – Kirjava first twisting herself around Will's legs – slunk back into the hall, conversing in hushed voices.
Neither of them looked a great deal different – Dr Malone's face had a smattering of wrinkles, and Lyra thought she saw a grey hair or two. Will didn't look any different at all – despite the fact that he'd grown, of course. His face was currently transfixed in shock, his hand with the two fingers missing still clutching mid-air, while his mug –apparently empty – lay on the floor, smashed to smithereens.
"… hello," Lyra smiled slightly, suddenly nervous.
The group – most of them sitting on the two console seats that had somehow been elongated into sofas – must have noticed the sound of her footfalls – muffled slightly as she was barefoot, but the glass floor was, surprisingly, not at all cold.
She merely smiled at all the questioning and concerned eyes of the people she knew and the ones she'd just met. "Hi."
They shot her greeting back at her, sounding like school-children in the unity of their voices. John laid a hand on the bottommost step of the staircase, asking without words for her to sit next to him. She complied, saying, "I'm fine," before he could ask.
"Where's Lyra?" she asked, more loudly, noticing the absence of the mysterious girl with the dark blonde hair.
"Gone to find her friend," the Doctor replied nonchalantly. "She should be back soon …"
As if on cue, there was a polite knock on the TARDIS door. Donna could hear Rory muttering something about timing, while Jenny, who seemed to have taken door-opening task onto herself – no one else made a move – walked over the doors and opened one of them.
A woman with greying brown hair and glasses – in her late forties or early fifties – stood in the Oxford street, smiling a little at Jenny. "I'm Dr Mary Malone. This is my son, Jake, his friend, Will, and you know Lyra." she motioned to the three teenagers behind her. Will and Jake looked something alike – the same height, though Will seemed older and more well-built. Jenny noticed he had two fingers missing on his left hand, and wondered what had happened to him.
"I'm Jenny," she smiled at the four, stepping aside to let them past.
They walked in – neither Will nor Lyra batting an eyelid, daemons following them – but Dr Malone and Jake staring around in awe. Jenny was expecting the, "It's bigger on the inside!" before it happened.
"Excellent skills of deduction," Sherlock muttered, looking slightly annoyed. Jenny bit back a laugh, sitting herself between Hermione and Martha.
"Yes, it is," said River, casting an amused look over the mother and son.
"Welcome to the TARDIS!" the Doctor exclaimed grinning.
Almost everyone rolled their eyes.
Gwen did not look up from the computer as she heard the door clanking open and the indistinct conversation between Jack and Ianto. She hated being left alone in the hub, but there was hardly any alternative. She still missed Tosh and Owen terribly – they all did – but there was nothing they could do. They had been assigned a UNIT guard 'for their protection' in the immediate weeks following the deaths of the two members, but his being there had been completely pointless. They could either take care of themselves or they couldn't, but Jack had not voiced this, so nor did Gwen or Ianto.
"How'd it go?" she asked with a smile.
"Hallucinations," Ianto rolled his eyes.
"Happens to some who've seen aliens. Can't deal with it," said Jack pointedly.
"Did you give her the amnesia pill?"
"Yeah. Any rift activity?"
Gwen shook her head. "No, there's nothing."
Jack frowned, reaching her side and peering into the screen. "What are they doing?"
The three of them had agreed that the absence of rift activity had been odd. It made their jobs much less busy and exciting. Gwen had had so many days off that Rhys was asking questions. She had a suspicion that this was an attempt to get rid of her. Of course, she didn't really mind. Jack and Ianto were good together, and it brought some degree of happiness to their group.
"What's that?" the latter's voice broke through her thoughts. He indicated a blip on the screen. It had not come through the rift, but it was alien – it would not have registered on their radar otherwise.
Jack laughed. "It's the TARDIS! It's the Doctor!"
He walked over to the lift before Gwen or Ianto could react. They glanced at each other.
"Well, are you coming or not?" Jack asked.
"We're just going to leave?"
"That wasthe plan, and it's not like there's anything to keep us busy here. Maybe the Doctor knows what's going on with the rift."
Gwen and Ianto exchanged another (doubtful) look, but followed Jack.
"We need to be quick," he said, as the lift started to rise. "He might just be stopping for fuel …"
Gwen shot him an incredulous look. "Fuel?"
"His machine – that blue box – feeds off the rift energy. Good power source for a TARDIS."
"And that is …?"
"Time and Relative Dimension in Space. It travels through time and space. You've seen the inside of it – well, a bit of it."
"The subwave network?" Ianto asked.
"That's the one."
The three of them strode over to the TARDIS, which was parked not far away from the lift. Jack knocked on the door. A black man Gwen did not recognise opened it.
"Who the hell are you?" Jack asked.
"What do you mean, who the hell am I; who the hell are you?"
The two men laughed, hugging each other.
"Mickey Mouse! I can't believe I'm actually happy to see you!"
"That doesn't mean you're gonna start calling me Minnie Mouse, does it?" asked a voice Gwen did recognise, and Martha appeared.
"You got married?"
"Yup," she grinned, holding up her left hand to display her wedding and engagement rings. "Hey Gwen, Ianto."
"Nice to see you again, Martha," Gwen smiled. "Congratulations."
"Thanks," Martha was grinning again, as she hugged Jack.
"Are you three coming in?" a voice called.
"Ah, the voice of authority has spoken," Martha smiled. "You remember Donna?"
"Hard not to forget her," Jack grinned.
The three remaining members of the Torchwood team stepped into the TARDIS, following Martha and Mickey. Jack surveyed the group assembled inside, and immediately hugged a blonde woman Gwen recognised. Rose, she thought her name was.
"Good to see you again," she smiled at him.
"Never thought I would see you again," he said, smiling back.
"Jack," the Doctor nodded, smiling just slightly.
"Doctor," he nodded back.
"No," the man, who, if he was not the Doctor, was obviously a stranger, shook his head. "It's John."
Jack hugged him. "What've you been up to?"
"Not much, if you compare it to this," he shrugged. "I went to live in that parallel world with Rose, not that I had much choice in the matter," he shot a look at a man with floppy brown hair, dressed in a tweed suit and bowtie. "Got a job; a house; a dog."
"Engaged," Gwen added, raising her eyebrows. Everyone's eyes turned to Rose, whose own eyes jumped to her t-shirt, hand resting on her chest, over something that was hanging from a chain around her neck; obviously an engagement ring.
"That's great news!" Martha exclaimed, though she folded her arms, watching Rose. "Why hide it?"
"We weren't ready to tell anyone," Rose muttered, averting her eyes from everyone else's questioning gazes. "Mum and dad don't even know …"
"I'm so happy for you," Gwen smiled at the woman she hardly knew, who had been questioning her heritage last time she'd seen her. But Jack was friendly with her – she knew she could trust her. She hugged Rose, who seemed surprised, but hugged back. "Getting married was the best thing I ever did, well, apart from the … incident …"
"What incident?" several voices asked interestedly.
"Oh, I was bitten by an alien," she explained quickly. "Ended up pregnant. Rhys saved me from being torn to pieces by the mother …"
"Is that your husband?" a young woman, with blonde hair like Rose's, but longer, asked.
"Yeah," she smiled. "Who are you?"
"I'm Jenny," the young woman said.
"Captain Jack Harkness," Jack offered a hand. Jenny glanced apprehensively at him, but shook it.
"Jack."
"No need to ask who you are then," Jack grinned at the tweed-clad man. "You haven't changed at all!"
"That's my daughter you're talking to."
This shocked Jack. He stared between the man and a woman with blonde ringlets who he also seemed to know.
"Oh, no," the woman said immediately, as though reading his mind. "She's not mine."
"Then how …?"
"Progenation machine, wasn't it?" Martha asked.
"Yeah," said Donna. "We ended up on a planet called Messaline. He got collared by a couple of soldiers, 'processed', his hand shoved into a machine, created Jenny."
"Who are you all?" Gwen asked interestedly, breaking the silence that followed.
"Well," Jenny said, glancing back at the group. "You seem to know Rose, Martha, Mickey and Donna … that's the Doctor, my dad, his wife, River Song, her parents, Amy Pond and Rory Williams, and John Smith, he's kind of like a clone of dad … meta-crisis … Sherlock Holmes, Molly Hooper, Lyra Silvertongue, Will Parry, Dr Mary Malone and her son, Jake … that's a mouthful," she muttered.
Jack made a point of shaking everyone's hands, and grinning at them. Most rolled their eyes, but Molly bristled. He laughed. "Captain Jack Harkness, this is Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones. We're the Torchwood team."
"I'm sorry about Owen and Tosh," Martha said. "I'm sorry I –"
"It's fine, Martha. We know."
She nodded.
"Did you hear about Sarah-Jane?" Mickey asked the three. They nodded, casting sorrowful eyes downwards.
"What?"
They all looked up again, taking in the Doctor's confused expression. Rose and John, too, were frowning, but they seemed to have an inkling of what was going on.
"Sarah-Jane," Martha said quietly. "Did you not hear? She died a few weeks ago … cancer …"
It took a moment for the news to sink in. The faces of the three of them showed only shock, horror. Then a choked sob echoed through the silence. John hugged Rose, and River's fingers tightened around the Doctor's.
"Right, we're going to visit Luke," said Donna, striding over to the console and setting the controls. She too seemed rattled by the news, but not too distraught.
The TARDIS landed. Donna led the way out, Jenny followed quickly, and the group after her, John with his arm around Rose, and the Doctor and River's hands still linked. Martha's eyes were downcast, as were Mickey's, Gwen's and Ianto's. Jack stared determinedly forward, and was the one to ring the doorbell. Amy and Rory followed, after a tentative glance at each other, and shot sympathetic smiles at anyone who would meet their eyes. The others remained in the TARDIS, not wanting to intrude.
A young girl, about eleven or twelve years old, with light brown hair and eyes rimmed with red, wearing a t-shirt that was far too big for her, and served more as a dress, opened it.
"Hello," she said, lip trembling slightly as she took in the large group assembled before her.
"Hello," Jenny replied kindly, feeling instantly drawn to the girl.
"Sky?" a voice called, and a young man with brown hair, darker than the girl's, looking just as distraught by the emotional upheaval that Sarah-Jane's death had brought, appeared, putting a protective arm around the little girl's shoulders. "Oh. Hello," his eyes moved over the group. "You've … you've heard then."
"I'm so sorry, Luke," Donna said, scooping both him and the girl, apparently called Sky – who was dragged in by Luke's arm still around her shoulders – into a hug.
"Who are you?" Luke and Jenny asked at the same time, as Donna released the two of them.
"I'm Luke Smith," Luke said. "I think you all know that … this is my sister, Sky."
"I'm Donna Temple-Noble," said Donna. "I met your mum. It was only the once, but I could tell she was a great woman – she'd travelled with this dumbo, after all," she punched the Doctor lightly in the arm. He sidestepped away from her slightly, but smiled weakly.
"Mum, Clyde and Rani did say you'd changed," Luke murmured, eyes of the Doctor. "Who're you, then, if he's the Doctor?" he turned to John.
"John Smith," he said, smiling in greeting, before his face returned to its sorrowful look. "Your mum might have mentioned; biological meta-crisis? I came from his hand, anyway."
"I'm Jenny," said Jenny. "The Doctor's daughter."
Luke smiled at her, but frowned. "You've got a daughter?"
The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "You've got a sister?"
"Yeah, I suppose," Luke murmured. "Long stories."
"Luke? Sky? What's going on? You've been there ages!" a female voice called from what seemed like the attic.
"Of course. You'd better come in," said Luke, he led the way up the stairs, his arm never leaving his sister's shoulders.
Two black teenagers, one male, one female, seeming around the same age as each other, and Luke, stood in the attic. The young woman was pacing, but stopped when she saw Luke. The young man was leaning against the window, watching the large computer screen, that seemed to be scanning for something.
"TARDIS detected," the computer pronounced, in a cool male voice.
"I thought so," the young woman said. "You ok, Sky?"
The girl nodded.
"This is Clyde Langer and Rani Chandra; my friends," said Luke.
"Doctor," Rani nodded, meeting his eyes. "Long time no see."
"It has been, hasn't it?" the Doctor mused quietly
"Who are you?" Clyde asked.
"Hmm …" the Doctor glanced at the group. "This is Jenny, my daughter, River Song, my wife, Amy Pond and Rory Williams, her parents. Donna Temple-Noble, Rose Tyler, Martha Smith-Jones and her husband, Mickey, they all used to travel with me. This is John Smith, he grew from my hand. And these three are the Torchwood team, Captain Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones."
"Nice to meet you," said Rani, in a subdued voice.
Luke wound a scarf around his neck. "I suppose you came to visit the graveyard."
"Luke –"
He smiled weakly. "Don't bother. It's all been said."
"So soon after Brig, though …"
"Let's just go."
The group trooped out of the attic, and the house, Rani taking Sky's hand. The closeness of all four of them was astounding, and Jenny couldn't help but feel slightly jealous.
The graveyard was not far, so they walked, earning plenty of odd looks from other people on the streets. Their group was unusually large, after all.
The graveyard was, as far as any of them could see, deserted but for them, and Sarah-Jane's grave was the only fresh mound of earth. A bunch of fresh roses had been laid there, and there was not yet a headstone. Jenny watched, feeling like an outsider – though she was not alone, Amy and Rory too stood back – as the group, one by one, paid their respects to Sarah-Jane, the Doctor, understandably, taking the longest time, until Luke knelt down on the damp grass and murmured to his dead mother.
Jenny took Sky under her wing as the girl looked dangerously close to crying. She put her arm around her, and Sky began to cry silently, shaking from head to toe. Jack took it upon himself to cheer her up, despite his own red eyes, and fed her an endless supply of jokes, only desisting when she gave a half-sob, half-laugh, and shot him a grateful, though wobbly, smile.
Sky was like her, Jenny decided, as was Luke, but that was not surprising, as they were siblings. There was something in their eyes that told her they were younger than they looked, just as the Doctor's eyes did the opposite. She wondered what their circumstances were, they could hardly be the same as her own.
"We've got more in common than you'd think, you know," she said, as they walked back to the house, both to Sky, who was still under her arm, and Luke, who was walking beside his sister.
"Oh?" Luke raised his eyebrows.
"How?" Sky asked curiously, wiping tears from her face with her sleeve, looking a little brighter; it seemed Jack's attempts to cheer her up had not been in vain.
"I'm younger than I look, too," said Jenny. The two shot her matching incredulous looks. She gave a quick laugh. "Yeah, I can tell."
"How old are you, then?" Luke asked her.
"Two and … a half … I think," she replied. "It's kind of hard to keep track when you're travelling. What about you two?"
"I'm three; Sky's a few months."
"So how did Sarah-Jane end up with such a pair of kids?" Jenny asked, smiling at them both.
"We were adopted," said Luke. "I was created by aliens – the bane, they were called – and I'm pretty sure Sky is an alien."
"I think so. I was a bomb," Sky scowled.
"She was also a baby one minute and a twelve-year old girl the next," Rani, who was behind them, and had evidently been listening to their conversation, said. "I'm sure she is an alien."
"Well, that's all right, so am I."
"What about you?" Luke asked.
"Oh, a machine took a tissue sample from Dad, grew me from it. I never was a baby."
"Neither was I."
"You could have a club or something," Rani laughed, as they reached the house, piling into the kitchen, though Luke climbed the stairs to the attic.
Rani set about making tea, though, with the enormity of their group, this was no easy task, so Donna and Ianto went to help her, while the others sat at the table or stood around it.
"Lucky the rest of us didn't come in," Jenny muttered to Amy, who sat across from her at the table.
"Yeah," she said, distractedly.
"There's more of you?" Sky asked incredulously.
"Yeah, just a few people we picked up …"
"What's going on?" Rani asked, as she sat at the table next to Amy, directing the question to the Doctor, who stood leaning against the wall.
"What do you mean?" he raised his eyebrows.
"You all turn up here," she waved a hand to the other people gathered in the kitchen. "If it were for Sarah-Jane, you could've come to the funeral, but you didn't. So, obviously, you're here for a different reason. What?"
"I only just heard about Sarah," the Doctor murmured. "I didn't know when I'd turn up – but the TARDIS always brings me where I need to go, I can count on her for that. And yes, there is a reason there's so many people. Every universe is in danger, and we've got to save them. We don't have any idea what's causing it, so far, but we do know that we need all the help we can get."
"I'll help you," said Luke from the doorway, where he had evidently just appeared. "Mum would've."
"Thank you, Luke."
"So will I," Sky piped up.
"And me," Clyde added, though his arms were folded.
"I'm sorry," said Rani quickly. "It's just – you know – Sarah-Jane just died … of course I'll help."
The Doctor smiled at her. She smiled weakly back.
They drank their tea, made a significant dent in the biscuit supply, and returned to the TARDIS, with K-9 at Luke's heels.
"It's changed," said Luke in surprise, as they entered the TARDIS.
"Wow!" said Sky softly. "It's beautiful." She spun around a couple of times, eyes shining as she took in her surroundings. "Hello," she smiled at the group gathered on the raised surface that was the console room. "I'm Sky Smith. Who are you?"
"Hello Sky," said Lyra, smiling back. "I'm Lyra Silvertongue, this is my dæmon –"
"What?" Clyde asked.
"Dæmon," Lyra repeated. "It's my soul, in animal form. He's part of me. His name is Pantalaimon. This is Will Parry, and his dæmon, Kirjava, Dr Mary Malone, her son Jake, Molly Hooper, Sherlock Holmes, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, his sister Ginny and Harry Potter."
"I'm Luke Smith; Sky's my sister. These are my friends, Clyde Langer and Rani Chandra. This is K-9."
"Pleased to meet you," Lyra smiled graciously.
"What do we do now?"
"I don't know," the Doctor sighed, stepping slowly up the steps and glancing at the scanner. He set the TARDIS into flight.
"Maybe we should call it a night," Rose suggested.
"Good idea," said Amy.
"I'm actually tired," the Doctor muttered, sounding surprised.
Even Luke, Sky, Clyde and Rani agreed, though they had just left Bannerman Road in daylight. So they set off in search of bedrooms, which, the Doctor assured them, the TARDIS would provide for them. And, sure enough, Jenny turned the handle of a door and found herself in a smallish bedroom, bathed with the orange glow of the TARDIS, with one bed, a wardrobe, a door that possibly led to an en suite, and even a pair of pyjamas that looked as though they would fit her laid on the bed, and slippers on the plush carpeted floor. Bidding the others goodnight, Jenny stepped into the room, closing the door.
She crossed the room, testing the door. It was unlocked, and, as she had suspected, led to an en suite, equipped with a toilet, sink, and bathtub equipped with a shower head. Yet another door led out of the bathroom, but to where, Jenny did not know. There was even a supply of towels, shower gel, shampoo, a hairbrush, toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste. She laughed softly to herself.
"Thank you, old girl," she murmured, pulling her hair down from its ponytail and brushing it through, sitting on the edge of the bathtub. The TARDIS practically purred, making her laugh again. She brushed her teeth, washed her face, and returned to the bedroom. She changed into the pyjamas, which did fit her, and climbed into the surprisingly warm bed, promptly falling asleep.
When she awoke, Jenny found everything the way it had been. There was no sense of day or night on the TARDIS, only the constant orange glow. She sat up against her pillows, surveying her surroundings again. Nothing had changed except that a dressing gown hung on the wardrobe door. She slid out of bed, into the fluffy slippers and then into the dressing gown. She then decided to explore her surroundings; taking advantage of the fact that no one could know she was awake yet.
She went into the en suite off her bedroom, deciding to find out where the door she'd seen last night led to. It was another bedroom, very similar to her own, but perhaps slightly smaller, and the orange glow was, for some reason, dimmer. It seemed, at first glance, to be deserted, but Jenny could make out a shape curled up on the bed, over the duvet and still fully clothed. She recognised the light-brown hair. It was Sky, curled like a kitten on the bed.
She backed out of the room quietly, so not to wake the younger girl, and locked the door. Evidently, they had to share the bathroom. She showered, brushed her teeth, unlocked the door again, and brushed her wet hair out, deciding to let it hang free over her shoulders. She returned to her bedroom, wrapped in her dressing gown. She opened the wardrobe door, and was surprised to find that there were very few clothes in it; most of it was taken over by steps, which led down, with clothes hanging on either side.
"Bigger on the inside," she laughed. "Of course."
She ventured, slightly apprehensively, down the staircase, finding herself in a large room with enough clothes to cater for anyone, no matter who they were. She noted that her staircase was not the only one; countless others twisted upward, to other wardrobes. One grand spiral staircase in the middle of the massive wardrobe led upwards to somewhere she couldn't see.
She quickly located the section of clothes that would fit her, and picked out something to wear, returning to her bedroom to change, but walking back down the stairs, this time closing the doors of her wardrobe behind her, curious as to where the spiral staircase led.
It transpired that it led to a corridor, and then to the console room, which was, surprisingly, deserted. She sat down on one of the console seats-turned-sofas, and waited. What it was she was waiting for, she had no idea, but she soon found out.
The scanner screen, which had been black, suddenly began to crackle with electricity, looking like an un-tuned television. She stood up, glancing at the controls, unsure what to do.
The voice that rang out was as clear as though the speaker were standing beside her, though the screen continued to show nothing of any use. She did not recognise the voice, though it was male, and sounded slightly crazed, she knew that much.
"Hello, young time lord."
"Who are you?" she asked, panicked, backing up a step and colliding with what seemed to be the sofa. She sank onto it. "How do you know what I am?"
"I am the Master, and I didn't know you were clumsy."
"How can you see me?" she asked, glancing wildly around.
"I've been watching your father for a while now. He thinks I'm dead, how wrong he is. I've been watching him pick up his little strays, who he thinks will help him defeat me and my friends."
"It was you," she said, eyes narrowing. "Why?"
"Because, my dear, the world is my oyster, and with all these universes, I've got a full seafood menu. I'm not going to give it up."
With that, the screen went black, the voice disappeared, and Jenny sat there, curled up in a ball, shaking from head to toe, and that was how Amy found her an hour later.
So yeah, our heroes have assembled, it's time to bring some villains into the equation. I'm still throwing Pushing Daisies in there, and if I do include Merlin and/or The Hunger Games, they'll meet them on their quest to track down the Master and defeat him.
Sorry if the saving of Donna isn't plausible, though I'm still not sure how she'll end up
Also, I actually quite like the idea of Luke/Jenny. They do have quite a lot in common. *Shrug*