Author's Notes:

Author's Note: This chapter is another that was going to be a great deal longer, but I've decided to split it in the interest of getting this one up by the end of the weekend, and because it seemed a good place to stop. Please let me know what you think;-) And.. if you have theories? I love theories! Please post them on the reviews column:o)

Chapter Ten: An Unlikely Hero

"Although men are accused
of not knowing their own weakness,
yet perhaps few know their own strength.
It is in men as in soils,
where sometimes there is a vein of gold
which the owner knows not of."
-Jonathan Swift

The Adamant Citadel
Collegium Intellectum
Allosopheiron
The Gnosi Cluster

5142, April the 27th

Bright green, blue and magenta ribbons cast their light onto the shining domes of Collegium Intellectum, streaking in myriad colors across the starry skies. The many domes were shaped like giant teardrops, each building spread across the sparkling landscape in the shape of a coil. If the curves of a sea shell were to be reworked on a metropolitan scale, it would find its twin in Collegium Intellectum - the city of 'collective understanding.'

Trees and blades of grass shone brilliantly in a luminsecent echo of the night sky, rustling softly in the warm breeze. A stray leaf, the color of twilight, was caught in a sudden rush of wind and carried along its blustery path. Upward and inward it flew into the center of the coil, where the Adament Citadel stood, hovering unerringly above the city's heart.

Curtains of oxygen and nitrogen danced along the planet's atmosphere, dazzling the twisted adamantine pinnacle of the Citadel. A balcony had been built into the bottom of the tower, which spiraled its way up to the crystalline crown. An entrance marked the beginning of each floor, each one a few degrees further than the next. The sides were sheer, its scale immense - ninety-eight stories stretched upward into the gaping sky. There were no adjoining towers. The Adamant Citadel stood alone on its plinth of magnetic rock.

The eighty-seventh floor of the building housed the Gnosi Cluster's most prized scholars. Each was given a sizable dormitory, the means of food generation, and a nearly unlimited supply of equipment for their research. At her desk in one such dormitory sat the imminent Professor River Song, making urgent notes on a sheet of dirty graph paper. Curls of steam arose from a mug resting by her rapidly moving wrist, glasses perched on her nose, hair pulled back into a messy cluster of curls.

A loud 'CRACK' resounded, and River nearly jumped out of her skin, accidentally knocking over the mug in her distress. Hot liquid poured over her desk, muddying painstakingly precise notes and figures. She cursed and picked up her graph paper before it could be soiled, then looked up to find the source of the noise. Her body jolted once more at what she saw, and the paper fluttered to the ground.

Fred's mouth was slightly agape, his hair a mess, face streaked with dust and sweat. He shuddered at the familiarity of the situation - at being cut off before the words could pass his lips - and abruptly clamped his mouth shut. He opened his eyes wide to focus, and cleared his throat. Thankfully, the coral had survived the trip, and he clutched it fiercely to his chest.

His body was still trembling, and he slowly became aware of an arm gripping his. All at once, he realized that he couldn't feel the ground properly beneath his feet. He pressed the toes of one foot to an ankle, hoping to regain contact with the planet by taking his shoes off. Fred heard a strange buzzing sound, as through cotton wool, and tilted his head to the side. The buzz got slightly louder, and he reached up to hastily clean his ears.

Fred brought the waxy finger back for visual inspection, and jumped at the suddenly audible question:

"What's happened to you? Doctor?"

It was a woman's voice. Not her voice. This one was darker, fuller, more mature. Fred blinked as he took in curly hair, hazel eyes and shiny magenta lips. Wait - shiny magenta? He had reason to be suspicious of that particular shade's now-and-again hallucinogenic nature. He bent toward her to get a better whiff, and she pulled back with a smile.

"Not now, sweetie," she scolded, shaking her head in mock-consternation. It dawned on him that she had misread his intentions, but wasn't given the chance to justify his actions:

"Don't get me wrong," she went on. "It isn't as though I wouldn't enjoy it, but it might spoil our first kiss." Then she winked at him. Winked! The woman had cheek! Still, he thought, can't afford to waste time with an argument. Haven't got a TARDIS this go-round. Fred was beginning to remember his reason for being here to begin with, and held fast to the coral as his mind began to race.

"River," he began. "I'm dying, and I need your help. We haven't got a lot of time." She opened her mouth to answer, and this time both of them jumped as another body materialized beside them. Fred's jaw dropped, the coral tumbling from his hands.

"Jack? What?" Fred sputtered, his mind spinning. He could feel the blood vessels in his brain expanding and contracting, and shut his eyes against the pain.

"Hey, it's okay, Doc," came Jack's reassuring American accent. He felt a warm hand on his shoulder, another supporting him beneath his arm. Fred swallowed and allowed his eyelids to reopen, taking in Jack's slightly troubled smile. "Knew you'd come calling again one of these days."

"I don't believe we've met," River interjected, and held her hand out to Jack. "River Song, professor of archeology and genetics."

"Genetics?" Fred repeated with a frown. "I thought you were just an archeologist."

Jack raised an eyebrow at him and shook his head as though to ask, 'Never learn, do you?' "Jack Harkness, at your service," he intoned, flashing a dimple at River as he raised her hand to his lips. "Smart is sexy. It's a pleasure to meet you, Professor."

"Pleasure's all mine," she replied with a knowing smile. And here we go, Fred sighed inwardly. He barely resisted rolling his eyes.

"Vortex manipulator," River added. "A time agent, are you?"

"Many moons ago," Jack answered with a chuckle. "Now it's just for fun."

Fred angily opened opened his mouth to divulge in yet another lecture on the dangers of inter-dimensional travel, but Jack held up his hand. "Hold your tongue for a second, hypocrite," he told him, then reached into his overcoat. Fred felt his eyes bulge near out of his skull as Jack pulled out a genuine sonic screwdriver.

"Thought so," Jack stated smugly. "Relieved it from a sleeping Chulan. What's it worth to ya?"

Fred narrowed his eyes. He should have suspected an ulterior motive from Jack Harkness. Didn't friendship count for anything anymore? Then again, he thought, Jack might actually make use of it. This body is rubbish for thinking on the sonic level.

"Nothing," he replied. "Keep it. I won't be needing it anytime soon." Jack's jaw dropped, but Fred rode him over, "Why are you here? How? And by 'how,' I mean how did you know where to find me?"

"Rose," Jack replied simply, and Fred's heartrate immediately doubled.

Jack's expression became concerned, "Easy, Doc! She sent her Mom to find me, and gave me the coordinates of your location. As far as I know, Rose and Jackie are both safe and sound in the other universe."

Fred abruptly remembered River's presence, and glanced quickly at her. She was as infuriatingly calm as ever. I'll bet that little blue book told her all about this, he mused in recollection.

Then it all fell into place.

He reached out to grip her by the arms: "River!" he began, his voice low and intense, "your little blue book, did it tell you that we were going to meet here today?"

She held his eyes and slowly nodded, "Yes."

"And?" he demanded, leaning in to study her expression.

She reached up to touch his hair. "Such lovely locks," she sighed. "Shame I never really got to know them."

"River," Fred warned tersely. He was dimly aware of Jack, arms folded indifferently across his chest. The gesture struck him as odd, though he couldn't quite summon the curiousity to find out why. His unfortunately human brain was limited to focus on one event at a time.

She nodded and bent down to retrieve the piece of graph paper. It had miraculously survived the spill, and she held it out to him. Fred shook his head, arms to his sides to keep from reaching for it.

"Don't know if I can handle it," he stated regretfully. "Every time I have any sort of - oh, I don't know, revelation? - my body starts to shut down. Can't handle the superior Time Lord paradigm."

River raised her eyebrows and smirked. "Superior? Hardly."

Fred found himself at an unfamiliar loss for words, and an unlikely hero came to his rescue:

"He might not be much for looks, lady," Jack defended, pointing to his own temple before going on, "but he's got a lot goin' on upstairs."

"Oh, believe me, I know," River sighed. "At any rate, Doctor, there's one thing you have got right. We've not got much time."

Fred knew he shouldn't let them call him the "Doctor," but it felt so nice. After all, he shared the same memories with that very man. That very Time Lord. And Rose had never called him "Doctor."

Rose had called him Fred.

And in that instant, he decided that his name would always be Fred, because it was the name those he loved had given him - and only he would ever know. He and the Doctor would would each have their own hidden names, albeit for different reasons.

"Doctor?" Jack asked, a hint of worry in his voice.

"Fine," he replied, and turned again to River: "You were saying?"

Her eyes were full of compassion, and she reached out to hold his hand. "You need to stay here, Doctor. Jack and I have an errand to run, but we'll be right back."

"Where are you going?" Fred demanded at the same time that Jack asked, "Where are we going?"

River looked from one man to the next, weighing their expressions. She nodded to herself, appearing to reach a conclusion. "I'll tell you as much as I can in a moment's time." Her gaze wandered to the open window, the lights of the Aurora streaming across the sky.

"Doctor, I will assume that when you met me, I ommited the "professor of genetics" from my title. I'm not certain why, and I don't need to know. Not now." She folded her hands behind her back and took slow strides toward the window.

"I'm currently the head of a project involving progenation. We are building a machine that - given the ample ingreditions for construction - will take a given tissue sample, isolate a diploid cell, and split it into haploids. If all goes well, it will recombine the chromosomes to produce a genetic offspring of the donor. We're hoping it will help repopulate endangered species, as well as - Doctor?"

Fred could not have known that his face had gone ashen. Diploids - haploids - the Hath - his mind was reeling - progenation - accelarated extrapolation - Jenny.

Jenny.

He felt his knees weakening at the acceleration of his mental synapses, and laid a hand on Jack's shoulder for support. Jack wrapped an arm around his torso, keeping Fred on his feet.

"You okay, Doc?" Jack asked, his voice full of concern. River came to stand by his side, her face an echo of Jack's.

"I will be." Fred kept his voice firm and went on, "Have you lot invented accelarated cloning yet?"

"Of course," River replied with a slow nod. "Part of the progenation machine's schematics are based on that technology. Why?"

"Can't tell you now - fried human brain's no good unless you're Hannibal Lechter - here, would you pass me the coral?" River handed him the piece of TARDIS, and he sighed as the healing effect enveloped him. Pain still clung along the edges, but he was able to focus once more.

"Jack, your sonic came from a Chulan?" At his nod, Fred continued, "any chance you lifted anything more helpful? Something with healing properties, perhaps?"

Jack shook his head ruefully and shrugged an arm out from under his backpack strap. Fred waited with baited breath until Jack's hand emerged with a cylindrical metal canister. "Nanogenes," he explained to River as Jack made to hand him the package.

"No," Fred stated with emphasis. "Not yet. Got any other vortex manipulators in that bag of tricks?"

"Never leave home without 'em," Jack answered with a cheeky grin. Fred swallowed his annoyance and turned to River: "Take the other one. The two of you need to set coordinates for the planet Messaline."

Jack pulled out his second manipulator and handed it to River, who deftly strapped it onto her wrist. "When?" was all she asked.

Fred would never forget the date. "6012, July the 24th." The day he'd been given another daughter - another Time Lord. She'd died in his arms within hours of her birth. First my own family, then Rose, then Jenny - and again Rose ... Fred tightened his grip on the coral. It was all he had left.

His throat felt full, his heart close to breaking, but he had to go on. He'd told Rose to wait for the Doctor, and he planned on making good on that promise. Fred gritted his jaw and stood at his full height.

"On that day," he told them, "a tissue sample was taken from me. You'll need to set those manipulators so that you're out of sight when it happens, then bring the sample back here."

They nodded and continued to look at him expectantly. "That's all I'm going to tell you for now." River frowned, and he went on: "Faulty parts, remember? I need to be conscious in order for this to work."

"We got it," Jack assured him, and set to work on his wristband. River glanced at Jack's handiwork, and began to mimic it. The two of them made eye contact, nodded, and vanished just as Fred remembered something that might be important:

"They're at war," he sighed into the empty room.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~