Resurrection of the Timelady
Chapter 2 – Help

It just so happened that the Doctor was out with River at that time, Amy and Rory had insisted on getting some work done at home so he took the opportunity to take River out for the day. They were in Ancient Greece enjoying a Dionysus festival when the Doctor was alerted to something coming from his psychic paper.

River sighed, "Duty calls sweetie?"

"Not sure," the Doctor pulled the paper out of his breast pocket and the look that came over his face was such that River pulled him away from the crowd and into a quiet corner.

"Doctor. Doctor!" River shook him. "What is it?"

"Impossible," the Doctor's features contorted in rage but River knew that meant he was more terrified than anything else.

"Please Doctor what is going on?" River physically had to move his face away from the paper to focus on her.

"We have to get to the TARDIS immediately," he grabbed River's hand and they ran full tilt for the blue box as if their very lives depended on it. The doors closed automatically on the time and the Doctor was a flurry of movement, setting the coordinates and starting the machine up while River was at a loss for what to do.

"River I'm sorry if this is spoilers but have I told about my friend Donna Noble yet?" the Doctor said very quickly.

"Don't worry, you have." River assured him. "She's your best friend, of course you've told me."

"Well she is being attacked right at this second, well not at this second, in the time we're going to, which is technically in the future but that doesn't mean we can take our time."

River stopped the Doctor's ramblings with a hand over his mouth, "I understand sweetie, let's go."

Doctor nodded and flipped the final lever. They stopped and the Doctor wasted no time rushing out, "I've had to park a bit away from her, she may not recognize this face but if she sees the TARDIS, or you now that I think about it, her mind will emit a sonic blast that could take out anything within twenty feet of her spot." They heard a blast and a shout and headed towards it. They could see the café and what they assumed was Donna crying out for help.

"Doctor look!" River pointed to the rooftop and the Doctor spotted the figure. Rage like never before boiled in his veins and he took off, climbing the fire escape with River right behind him. The Doctor made it to the top of the building and they could see the figure was dressed head to foot in a black robe carrying a large rifle. The Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to make the weapon spark causing the assassin to drop it and he took off.

*ROTT*

Down below, Wilf had witnessed the scene and smiled triumphantly. The Doctor was here but that meant he needed to get Donna out of there immediately. Thankfully the police arrived and they called for an ambulance for Shaun who was alive but only just. "He's here," Wilf mumbled to Sylvia, "don't ask me how but the Doctor is here and drove off the gunman. We have to get Donna home before she sees him."

Sylvia looked around frustrated, "We can't leave yet, the police want statements and there's no way she would leave without seeing to Shaun first."

"I'll keep an eye out for him," Wilf scanned the buildings. "You just make sure Donna doesn't wander off. If he comes, I'll signal you to get her to turn away."

*ROTT*

The Doctor was hot on the assassin's tail – whoever it was. They were too lithe and athletic to be a Judoon, Sontaran, or Cybermen. The Doctor ran through all the possibilities in his head but he simply had no clue but he was going to find out. The assassin ran through the alleyways coming to a dead end.

"AHA GOTCHA!" The Doctor yelled but he wasn't prepared for the assassin to pulled small device that looked like a stun gun with a shorter barrel.

"DOCTOR!" River screamed but the assassin fired hitting the Doctor with a kind of red electricity. The Doctor dropped and River made to attack only –

"GET AWAY FROM THEM!" There was someone else on the roof right above them. The person jumped down, taking out the assassin from above, and shooting it with a high-powered hand blaster directly where the head would be. She looked at River and River saw that the newcomer was a young woman! She had tan skin, dark hair that was pulled into a ponytail, dark eyes, with a long but curved figure. She wore a baggy black cargo pants and purple tank top. She tucked her weapon away, "I'm Sky."

*ROTT*

Back at the coffee shop, Wilfred and Sylvia were impatiently trying to get Donna away but she was ranting to the police and fussing with the EMTs over taking of care of Shaun. He suffered severe burns to his back and possible considerable internal damage. They had just taken him away and the police were gone so the family was planning on going to the hospital but everything came to a standstill when they heard a female shout, "DOCTOR!"

Donna immediately stopped talking and kept looking in the direction of the voice, "Doctor?"

Wilf instantly started pulling on Donna's arm, "Let's not worry about sweetheart, we have to go to Shaun."

"But the gunman escaped," Donna protested. "Maybe someone else got hurt, we have to help!"

"Donna -" Sylvia attempted to stop her daughter but she took off. Donna rounded the corner at the other end of the street only to see a blue box standing near the mouth of an alleyway. Why did that look so familiar? Why was she so happy to see it? She could hear these strange sounds in her head; wheezing, groaning, bangs, and sparks. Hang on Donna! Who said that? God it was hurting her head to think so hard. Wait it really was hurting! Oh lord her head felt hot like it was on fire. The pain was excruciating, she couldn't take it. Donna's eyes rolled back into her head and she passed out.

*ROTT*

Though Donna couldn't hear it, everyone heard the blast including River and Sky. Sky in particular looked in its direction with something akin to dread. "Right," she clapped her hands together. "We really don't have time for much explanation so I'll cut to the chase. I'm Sky, just Sky. You don't know me yet but I'm a future friend of the Doctor's. This-" she knelt and pulled off the assassin's hood to reveal a droid, "isn't just a kill-bot, it is the prime robotic assassin. Top of the line and all that. I take that is the Doctor?"

"Yes," River crouched down beside him. "Is he…"

"He's still alive," Sky assured her. "They want him alive...for now but we have to get him to the TARDIS."

"What about the bot?" River nodded towards it.

"Just watch," Sky got up and left it soon the robot seemed to disintegrate in front their eyes. "Told you it was top of line, if it gets taken out, the robot is designed to completely deconstruct down to a molecular level that way no one can find out who sent it." River frowned but said nothing while she and Sky worked together to pick the Doctor up and both of them carried him back to the TARDIS. They spotted Donna on the ground and gently lowered the Doctor back down. "I'll check on her," Sky ran to the woman's side just as Wilf and Sylvia appeared.

"Get away from her!" Wilf yelled.

"It's alright, I'm a friend of the Doctor's," Sky insisted.

"Then where is he?" Wilf looked around and saw River and the Doctor but did not recognize the Doctor in this regeneration. "Well girl, where's the Doctor?"

"You just looked at him Wilf," Sky pointed back at the TARDIS. "Have you forgotten what he told about regeneration?"

"The new face and all that," Wilf scratched his head. "So what's happened to him? Why is he unconscious? Wait a moment, how do you know who am I?"

"Like I said, I'm a friend. The assassin hit him with something, we have to get him inside the TARDIS to look after him," Sky turned back to Donna. "Donna will be fine but she hit her head really hard. She's got a cut, you'll have to explain that somehow. She won't wake for a couple of hours, you can use the TARDIS to get home." With that the Doctor and Donna were brought aboard and River watched with a raised eyebrow as Sky worked the controls with ease, helping her pilot the ship.

"You're quite good at this," River commented loaded with implications.

"Yes am I," Sky replied easily.

"Mind telling me what in the name of sanity is going on?" River asked casually.

"I suppose I'll have to won't I?"