Time's Heart
A Doctor Who Fanfiction
Rating T
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any related characters and/or quotes, FlatIron Crossings Mall, Starbucks, Hot Topic, nor any other corporate entity mentioned herein. However any original characters are mine, and are available for use with permission.

AN: Enter Torchwood. And to answer the question placed about Thera and her niece… They both spent the bulk of their lives on the other side of the void. Thera's niece to get away from the Gallifreyan Council and Thera because that is where her mother is. This chapter explains a great deal about it actually… well a bit. There is more to come as I wend my way through the two timelines. Enjoy.

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"I know someone, a friend, who may be able to help with transporting her to Cardiff. He'll want to know the reason of course." Noticing that she was staring blankly at the silent central drive column, he gently pulled her into his arms. Rocking her as he would a distressed child, allowed him the contact and time he needed to look at the diverging timeline that he had seen when they had first touched.

A hospital room plain and white with hints of blue. A beeping heart monitor, sounding off at an abnormally fast rate for a human. A fragile looking woman dwarfed by the bed she lay on. The Torchwood logo was embroidered into her gown, just over the left side of her chest.

Jackie Tyler sat in silent vigil over the young woman, one hand on the heavy swell of her belly, the other threaded into the girl's hair. Her face was lined with exhaustion as her eyes rested on the bassinet at the foot of the bed that should have held her grandchildren, but sat empty instead. The twins were instead laying in incubation chambers in isolation, their tiny little hearts struggling to keep them alive. According to young Toshiko Sato they were nearly five months premature, even though they had been born almost a year and a half after their mother had conceived them. The medical expert was convinced that the reason that they were so early was because they didn't belong in this universe. She was convinced that there was some sort of key to the whole… key? Jackie lurched to her feet as a notion popped into her head. Mickey and Rose still had their TARDIS keys. Before she could stop herself, she hit the button to bring Tosh running.

And run she did. Any call regarding the woman that the majority of Torchwood adored would bring her running. Tosh remembered when Rose had first arrived, so heartbroken and fragile because of her hidden pregnancy and separation from her mate. She had felt as if she owed it to the other woman to do all she could to save her as she had saved the universe. She also felt accountable in view of the fact that she had failed to notice the pregnancy in the first place.

Bursting through the door, she skidded to a halt, startled to see that the only thing wrong was that Mrs. Tyler was on her feet. "What's wrong? Is it the baby?"

Jackie shook her head. "No. I found the key. Keys actually. Rose and Mickey have keys to the Doctor's TARDIS. What if the babies wear them? They're from the other universe, right? And TARDIS is the Doctor's ship right? So maybe the keys can help since they're part of it."

Tosh's face lit up as she ran the idea through her head. "It might. It just might at that. And if we move them into the Rift room, the keys should be stronger. Rose did say that the rift was the TARDIS's fuel source." She hugged Jackie in delight, before she ran out the door calling over her shoulder, "Mrs. Tyler you're brilliant."

Jackie carefully lowered herself back into her chair, a bright smile on her face. "Do you hear that Rose? The babies are going to be all right now. So, don't you give up. No daughter of mine is going to give up. You hear that Rose. Don't you dare give up. The Doctor needs you." She gasped as a sudden contraction ripped through her belly. "And so do those babies of his."

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When Jack had woken up that morning after a very rare night of sleep, the last thing he expected was to be greeted by a woman singing Lullaby in the Central Hub. He also did not expect to see his team huddled around Ianto's computer listening to it. "What's going on here guys?"

The small group turned to him startled by the sound of his voice.

Ianto smiled brightly, a slight blush on his cheeks. "It's good to see you up and about Jack. I…" He cleared his throat, "that is we, were worried."

"Worried? I was sleeping. I know I don't do it that often, but it's no reason to worry."

Gwen stepped forwards and laid a hand on his arm. "You've been unconscious for four days." She pulled his mobile from her pocket and handed it to him. "Your friend, the Doctor, has been trying to get a hold of you since the day before yesterday. When I spoke with him last night, he asked that I have you ring him as soon as you woke up."

"Alright, but what's with the music?"

"The rift has been making noise." Tosh's voice was quiet as she explained. "Talking, singing, and the like. We started to record it as soon as we noticed. It actually started right around the time you left here saying that you were going to bed. That's why we believe that it may be related."

"We've actually been picking up some interesting conversations." Ianto cued up the first recording on her screen. "Both you and the Doctor have been mentioned several times, which leads us to believe that it is coming from a parallel Torchwood."

"Let's hear it then."

"What about your friend?"

Jack shrugged. "I need to know if this is something I should be telling him about or not." He placed a hand on Ianto's shoulder. "Play it."

The younger man nodded and turned back to his computer. "This is the first one. The parallel Tosh is in it." Reaching forward he started the playback.

Soft and metallic, the sound of heartbeats through a monitor, a soothing cacophony of four hearts beating just slightly off beat of each another. The sound of restless movement brought a soft shushing noise and a gentle female voice.

"It's all right. Auntie Tosh is here. Quiet now. There's a good lad. Don't worry Mummy will be here as soon as she wakes up."

Soft footsteps precede a male voice with a distinct London accent. "They seem to be doing better."

"They are. Mrs. Tyler was right on about the keys. They've made tremendous strides just in the last few hours that they've been in here wearing the keys. Their hearts have steadied and gotten stronger. Their blood-oxygen levels have had a noticeable improvement. The both of them. They are doing better then anticipated for how premature they are."

"Can you explain this to me? I mean six months ago we didn't even know that Rose was pregnant."

"That is true sir. When Rose first came here nearly a year ago, I did a full medical workup on her. A few hormone levels were off, but nothing that raised any flags for me. She is from the other side after all. But I did recheck everything when she collapsed after your return from Norway. That was when I first thought to check for pregnancy. The only explanation I can come up with for it is their father's biology. We know next to nothing about is aside from what Rose and Mickey remember. Four-lobed brain, respiratory bypass, binary cardiovascular system, regenerative capabilities, and severely allergic to aspirin and all its derivatives." She gave a self-depreciating laugh. "I'm guessing about most of this. From growth patterns, I would place the twins, anywhere from four to six months early, not the two months early that they would be in a normal human pregnancy."

"Oh. And the keys? You said Jackie gave you the idea."

"Yes. We don't know how they are doing it, but they are pulling energy through the rift from the other side. As best we can figure, there's another key."

"Another key?"

"Yes. Someone on the other side of the rift must also have a key and it is acting as a bridge or relay, connecting the keys here, with the TARDIS."

"Thereby surrounding these two with the correct energy field."

"Exactly." Tosh's voice was sad as she continued to speak. "They don't belong here. They never did."

"Wow." Jack stared at Ianto's computer absolutely stunned. The Doctor had kids. He had kids, with Rose. He had kids… "They're trapped there." He brought a hand to his face as he sat heavily in a nearby chair. "Is there anything we can do?"

Gwen shook her head as she knelt in front of her superior. "No. We've checked. Anything we tried would just tear a hole in the universe."

Reaching under his collar, he carefully pulled out his key. Contemplating it for a moment, he came to a decision. "The Doc needs to know about this. I've got to get him here." Thumbing through the address book on his phone, he quickly found his friends number. "Here's hoping."

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