Chapter 4 – Reunion
Previously - She closed her eyes briefly, reaching out into the time vortex, "We don't have long left and I would like a quiet word with my immediate predecessor before he has to leave".
The doors to her TARDIS opened and Jenny nervously stepped outside, pulling her leather jacket tightly around her body, "Ah you got my message then", The Doctor smiled and stood next to the red head, "before you all leave I want you all to meet Jenny, our daughter".
The young Time Lady gave a nervous wave and most of The Doctor's looked on in bemusement. The only one not confused was the Tenth Doctor, who looked like he was close to fainting, "Hello again Dad", Jenny smiled, "it's been a while".
The young red haired Time Lady walked slowly across the rocky surface, acutely aware that the eyes of all incarnations of The Doctor were focused solely on her. Her telepathic senses were still developing but even she could feel the confusion in their minds. Jenny tried her best to push their presences out of her mind, instead focusing on the Tenth Doctor, the one she identified as her father. He was staring at the woman with his arms wide open, struggling to find the right words to express his feelings.
Jenny paused in front of the man and gave him a hopeful smile. She had dreamed of this moment for decades but now it was here, she too was lost for words. The Tenth Doctor slowly and nervously brought his hand towards her face, worried that if he touched her that she would disappear. He finally summoned up all of his courage and gently placed his palm on his daughter's cheek, "Jenny", he whispered, "it's really you",
"Yeah Dad, it's me", Jenny sniffed and threw her arms around the Tenth Doctor. Tears of happiness fell from the young Time Lady's eyes, overcome with joy having achieved her dream. The other Doctor's watched the scene with a small smile, if still a little confused about who Jenny was.
The Twelfth Doctor took a couple of paces back from the rest of the group and glanced at the ground. If she was honest, the Time Lady was a little jealous of her predecessor. She had been the one to find Jenny, if accidentally, yet the younger Time Lady was a little cold towards her. Admittedly it had been an awkward initial meeting but the reaction she got was significantly different than the one she was giving the Tenth Doctor, "Green isn't a good colour on you", the Eleventh Doctor whispered from over her left shoulder, "it clashes with your jacket".
"Perhaps if you completed the matrix then I wouldn't have this problem", The Doctor snorted.
"I haven't even done that yet", Eleven replied, "you can't be angry for something I haven't done".
"Wibbly wobbly", The Doctor turned around and raised an eyebrow, "Isn't that how you would describe this situation". She gave an involuntary shudder after using that phrase, "Wibbly wobbly, please don't use it again it's unbecoming of us, try acting like a grown up".
"I can't believe it", Eleven shook his head in disappointment, "I've gotten old". The Twelfth Doctor shook her head but chose not to respond, instead she turned her attention back to Jenny.
The young Time Lady slowly released the Tenth Doctor and wiped her eyes. The brown haired man rubbed some of her tears away with his thumb, "You've regenerated, I didn't think you could do that", he stated with pride.
"Only recently", Jenny replied softly, "would've been nice if you told me that I could do that". She tried her best to keep the bitterness out of her voice but the memories of her loneliness during the last eighty seven years were too prominent in her mind.
"Jenny I am so sorry", the Tenth Doctor apologised, "after you died in my arms", he took a deep breath, the whistling of air over his teeth echoing across the asteroid, "I couldn't bear to go back", he added honestly. "For a few short hours I had hope again", he continued, "I wasn't the last of my kind and I had the chance to be a parent again". He paused and looked at the misty ground, "But that was cruelly taken away from me and it broke my hearts. It took all my self control not to seriously harm General Cobb and I feared that if I returned to Messaline.."
The young Time Lady gave the Tenth Doctor a watery smile as his voice trailed off. Jenny though knew what he was going to say, he didn't trust himself not to exact revenge on Cobb or the rest of the soldiers that had supposedly taken her life. For the first time she finally understood why her father hadn't returned to the planet of her birth. Their private moment was interrupted by the approaching Fifth Doctor. He inspected the young Time Lady whilst fiddling with the brim of his hat, "I'm sorry I couldn't help but overhear your conversation", he began, "but why were you unsure if Jenny could regenerate?"
"Probably because I'm not a true Time Lord", Jenny said with a deep sigh.
"Come on Jenny that's not true", the Tenth Doctor snapped.
"Your words Dad", Jenny snorted and turned to the Fifth Doctor, "I was created using a propagation machine on the planet Messaline, cloned from his cells", she continued. "I had all the characteristics of a Time Lord but then I got shot saving his life", she pointed at the Tenth Doctor, "when I didn't regenerate straight away, everyone assumed I had died. But then I woke up on a cold table in the makeshift infirmary, stole a ship and set out to find my Dad".
"Interesting story", the Seventh Doctor stated, slowly circling the group, "tell me Jenny, how long had you been alive before you were shot".
"Just a few", Jenny replied, "ten, maybe twelve at the most".
"Ooh I'm so thick", the Tenth Doctor slapped his forehead, "thick thickity thick, how could I have forgotten?" Jenny frowned at the man in confusion, "If a Time Lord is injured during the first fifteen hours after regeneration, he or she can still heal their injuries without the need for a further regeneration".
"Right", Jenny drew out that word, "what's that got to do with me?"
"Simple my dear", Seven began, "what you experienced was a healing coma, a state that to the untrained eye looks like you've died but in actual fact, it was your body healing itself from a serious injury". The umbrella carrying Doctor looked at his future self with a hint of disgust, "I must be going senile if I forgot that".
"It was a busy day", the Tenth Doctor defended himself, "must've slipped my mind".
"It's alright Dad", Jenny sighed, "no one's perfect". Jenny had learned that the hard way, during the early years of her life, she believed that her father was perfect and could do no wrong. As time drifted by, some doubt began to her mind. She stopped idolising The Doctor, mentally knocking him off the pedestal she had mentally placed him on. Those had been the toughest years during her short life but she had gotten through it but trying to help others. That's what led her to Floyd Sector Gamma, the place where her first incarnation had died.
She shifted her focus onto the other two men in front of her. She knew about regeneration now but she still found it hard to believe that the short middle aged man and the youthful looking blonde were both younger versions of her father. She scrutinised the blonde Doctor a little closer, so much so that he began to feel a little uncomfortable, "Something on your mind?" he asked softly.
"Sorry", Jenny shook her head, "it's just I always wondered why I didn't look like my Dad but now I realise that I took after one of his previous faces". Jenny had pondered that one many times during her lifetime but after meeting the Fifth Doctor it became clear. Her first incarnation bore a striking resemblance to the man, if the two of them were in the same room you would believe they were father and daughter.
"You've got a bright future ahead of you Jenny", Seven began, "I trust that my future self will be an excellent parent and teacher". Jenny thought about that for a moment and briefly turned towards the woman in the purple jacket. "You don't believe she is the truly The Doctor do you?" Seven added.
The Scottish sounding Doctor had hit the nail on the head. The confession that The Doctor had absorbed memories and the remaining regenerations of her granddaughter was a little hard to accept. She understood that a Time Lord was the same person after regeneration but she wasn't convinced about this matrix graft the other Doctor's had referred. "Jenny there's one thing you need to understand about Time Lords", the Tenth Doctor began, "for us the mind is the most important part of who we are, not the physical body".
"We do go through thirteen bodies in our natural lifespan", the Fifth Doctor added.
"Exactly", Ten continued, "you could place my matrix inside a dog and that dog would still be The Doctor".
"Not a particularly pleasant image", Seven shuddered slightly at that thought.
"Yeah sorry that example got away from me", Ten apologised, "but the point I'm trying to make is that woman is just as much The Doctor as I am or any of us", he pointed towards Five and Seven. "And if she's taken anything from Susan then she will be a much better parent than I ever would've been". Jenny turned back around to face the Twelfth Doctor, who appeared to be having an animated conversation with the First and Eleventh Doctor's. There was certainly a bond between the pair and it was clear that The Doctor felt genuine affection towards her. Jenny still needed to be convinced though, she wasn't going to be call her Mum any time soon.
Over near the current TARDIS, the First Doctor had heard enough bickering from the two oldest Doctor's. These two had been sniping at each other for almost the entire duration of this gathering. The youngest Doctor was a little alarmed by the attitudes of the pair of them. The Eleventh Doctor acted like an overgrown child. The Twelfth Doctor was a little more mature but she still resorted to childish and thinly veiled insults. It was hard for him to believe that the current Doctor shared some of the mind matrix of his young granddaughter, their personalities were polar opposites of each other. "That's enough from the pair of you", he scolded them in his best fatherly voice.
"Sorry, The Doctor hung her head. The First Doctor smiled a little at that, maybe there was more of Susan inside this woman than he first thought, "We're just having a frank exchange of opinions, that's all".
"I hardly think that calling this young man a floppy haired, big chinned moron a productive use of language", the First Doctor said with a small smile.
"What if it's true?" The Doctor replied with a mischievous smirk but she soon removed that after a piercing glare from the silver haired Doctor.
"She's unhappy that the mind matrix created wasn't complete", Eleven added, "apparently there were some holes in my personal history".
"Basically he purged anything that made him sad", The Doctor shrugged.
"Cut that out", the First Doctor snapped at the oldest Doctor, "did you ever stop to consider that he did it for another reason". The raven haired woman tilted her head slightly and frowned, "if the matrix had been complete then perhaps Susan's memories would have been permanently deleted, hmm".
"Memories of David and her children", Eleven added softly, "Susan Campbell had her own pain, she didn't need mine on top of it".
The Doctor physically stumbled backwards, she had spent so much time being angry at her immediately predecessor that she never stopped to consider that he had good intentions at heart. A complete matrix would've seen all of Susan's memories expunged. All the happy times with her children and husband, gone forever. Maybe the Eleventh Doctor had done the right thing after all, "Can you at least give your memories of Jenny?" she asked softly. He nodded gently and placed his finger tips on her temples, immediately transferring his memories over to her, "Thank you", she whispered once the process was complete.
The First Doctor smiled and looked at his watch, "I do believe that our time is up", he announced. He pulled The Doctor into a tight hug, "Good luck Doctor, I know you'll do us proud", he muttered into her ear.
The Doctor nodded, "Thank you", she replied before turning to the Eleventh Doctor, "I owe you an apology", she added.
"I don't think that's necessary", he smiled and hugged her as well, "just promise me you'll look after Jenny".
"I will", The Doctor replied and watched the two men departed towards their respective TARDIS's. She watched as Jenny said a proper goodbye to the Tenth Doctor, waiving him off as his TARDIS groaned into life. She was happy that Jenny had gotten a few minutes with the man, even her unfounded jealousy of their closeness had abated.
Jenny slowly walked over to The Doctor and gave her a warm smile. She watched as the time capsules depart one after the other another, happy to finally closed the door on her bitterness towards the Tenth Doctor, "It's strange", she began, "I've spent so long hoping to run into him and just as long being disappointed that I hadn't". She the last of the TARDIS's a final wave goodbye, "Now I've met all of your past incarnations, I don't feel so alone anymore", she added.
Jenny was expecting to hear a response from The Doctor and was surprised that she hadn't. The young Time Lady turned around just in time to see the TARDIS door closing behind a retreating Doctor. At first Jenny thought it was something she said but then she realised something. That woman contained the matrix of Susan Campbell, The Doctor's granddaughter. Jenny felt a little guilty, she had been so wrapped up in her own feelings that she had forgotten about The Doctor's. She wanted to make things better but right now, she had absolutely no idea how to do that.
A/N - There's a lot of anger and self loathing that the current Doctor and it stems from the very process that was used to bring her into existence. In my mind the mixture of Doctor/Susan is about 95 percent in favour of the older Time Lord. Not much but enough to make a difference. Next time we see the end of Susan and the birth of the Twelfth Doctor.