The Doctor, Ariel and Donna all hid behind wall while Jenny smirked at Cline from through the bars.
The Doctor had been strongly opposed to Jenny fighting or trying to knock out Cline, while Donna had continued insisting that Jenny was just trying to help. In order to stop the fighting, Ariel came up with another idea.
She had used it several times with her previous two boyfriends to get them to do what she wanted when they were being stubborn. It was a lot of fun and they always had a good laugh after, but this time they were using it for real.
She taught Jenny what to say and what to do and in the back of her mind started to realize that she was teaching Jenny exactly what her mother had taught her.
"Hey," Jenny smirked.
"I'm not supposed to talk to you," Cline said automatically. "I'm on duty," he reminded her.
"I know. Guarding me," Jenny grinned and Ariel stole a quick glance to see Cline smile at that remark.
"It's working," she whispered to the Doctor and Donna.
"Oh, you are brilliant," Donna grinned.
"So, does that mean I'm dangerous, or that I need protecting?" Jenny wondered, shrugging nonchalantly at Cline.
"Protecting from what?" He asked, beginning to play along with her and stepping in front of her, just as Ariel had expected. He wouldn't want to flirt with her while turning his head every time. Every guy she knew always wanted to face girls head on so they could act like the flirting has no effect on them.
"Oh, I don't know," Jenny sighed. "Men like you?" She suggested with a smirk before pulling him forward and kissing him roughly. She dropped his shirt from her hands and slowly, yet cautiously, pulled his pistol out of its holster and pulled away from the kiss, smiling at Cline as she pressed the pistol to his stomach. "Keep quiet and open the door," her voice carrying the same lighthearted tone it did before despite having a gun pressed up against him.
"I'd like to see you try that," Donna smirked at the Doctor and Ariel snorted.
"Oh, what I wouldn't give," Ariel sighed.
The door clanged as it opened and Jenny continued carrying Cline's pistol and pointing it at him to make sure he didn't yell out for help.
"Alright, I can take it from here," Ariel nodded.
Jenny smiled and put the gun away before Ariel jumped up and kicked Cline in the chest. She dragged him into the cell and placed her foot on his stomach, keeping him down as she pulled a hanky from his belt and tied it around his mouth.
Jenny grinned at her and let her out before closing the cell door and locking Cline inside.
"Where did you learn to do that?" the Doctor frowned.
"Mum had me take martial arts classes after Dad died," Ariel shrugged. "I hated it but she said as long as I've got good enough knowledge to keep pigs off the street away she doesn't care. I think she mostly did it because she knew I'd always be walking to school and home alone," Ariel sighed.
"Well, blimey, your mum and I are gonna have a chat when you stop by next time," the Doctor mumbled and Ariel laughed.
"I only went to like three classes. I hated it and everyone there," Ariel sighed. "But I learned enough so mum didn't mind me giving it up."
"Is there any other shocking and hidden abilities you have that I should know about?" the Doctor asked.
"Well, I can play the violin, but that's about it," Ariel shrugged. "You already know everything else."
"Alright, blimey, I wasn't expecting an answer," the Doctor mumbled and Ariel giggled as they headed down a staircase.
They all started walking until the Doctor held out his hand to stop the three women. He peered around the corner and spotted a guard on the lower flight of the stairs.
"That's the way out," the Doctor sighed.
"And there's a guard blocking it," Ariel muttered. "Of course," she said, rolling her eyes. They always seemed to have the worst luck.
Jenny raised her pistol and the Doctor's eyes flared, reaching out and grabbing it immediately.
"Don't you dare," he hissed.
Jenny stared at him with wide alarmed eyes, much like a child being scolded by her parent.
"Let me distract this one," Donna smirked. "Ariel and Jenny got the last one anyway and I may have picked up a few womanly wiles over the years," she grinned.
Ariel stared at her with wide eyes, genuinely unsure of whether she should laugh or be seriously concerned.
The Doctor stared at Donna with wide eyes as well, looking as though he'd rather kill the guard than watch Donna use her 'womanly wiles' on the man.
"Let's save your wiles for later. In case of emergency," the Doctor nodded and Donna looked disappointed, sighing softly but nodding nonetheless.
The Doctor fished around in his coat. "I must have something in here," he hummed.
"You probably do," Ariel nodded. "The amount of rubbish you fit in that coat never ceases to amaze me," she sighed.
The Doctor grinned victoriously as he held up a clockwork mouse for all the women to see.
"Seriously?" Ariel groaned. "Of all the things we could use, you pull out a mouse?"
"Oi," the Doctor frowned. "Don't diss the mouse."
"I'm just saying," Ariel shrugged. "I would've thought The Oncoming Storm could've done better."
"It's a good plan!" the Doctor insisted. "Now, help me wind him up," he grinned like a small schoolboy.
Ariel giggled and wound up the mouse before the Doctor dropped it to the ground and allowed it to distract the guard.
While the man followed the mouse, the Doctor slowly crept out from behind the stairwell.
Ariel snorted as she watched the man pick up the mouse curiously. "He's like a cat," she breathed and Donna chuckled as she nodded.
Just then, before anybody could stop her and while the guard's back was turned, Jenny ran up behind him and whacked him hard on the back of the head making him fall straight onto his face.
"I was going to distract him, not clobber him!" the Doctor exclaimed.
"Well, it worked, didn't it?" Jenny shrugged.
"Oh, come on, Doctor," Ariel sighed. "At least she didn't kill him. She could've easily ignored you and shot him in two seconds."
The Doctor sighed. "Yeah, I suppose you're right," he mumbled as he grabbed the mouse and put it back in his coat.
"You seriously want to keep that thing?" Ariel winced.
"'Course I do!" the Doctor exclaimed with a grin.
Ariel rolled her eyes. "There are somethings I will never understand how you love," she muttered as the Doctor narrowed his eyes at the guard.
"They must all have a copy of that new map," the Doctor mumbled. "Just stay there. Don't hurt anyone," he advised Jenny.
The Doctor grabbed a copy of the map from the guard and nodded to Ariel. She grinned and grabbed his hand before taking off with him down the second flight of steps.
They headed down one of the tunnels and soon waved for Donna and Jenny to follow them. The Doctor peered down at the map as they ran through the tunnel.
Eventually, he skidded to a stop and glanced at his side. "Wait. This is it. The hidden tunnel. There must be a control panel," he frowned.
Donna walked up to his side and frowned at another metal plate. "It's another one of those numbers. They're everywhere."
This one read: 60120714.
"They're all similar too," Ariel muttered. "They all look the same except the one in the cell was 60120716."
"The original builders must have left them," the Doctor shrugged. "Some old cataloguing system," he guessed.
"You got a pen? Bit of paper?" Donna asked and the Doctor nodded, fishing a pen and a bit of paper out of his suit and handing it to her. "Because, do you see, the numbers are counting down. It's like Ariel said. This one ends in one four. The prison cell said one six."
"Could it be counting down to the Source?" Ariel wondered. "Maybe, it's the original builders way of sort of guiding people to it."
"Could be," Donna nodded as she wrote down all the numbers they had seen so far.
"Always thinking, all of you," Jenny smiled. "Who are you people?"
"I told you," the Doctor nodded. "I'm the Doctor."
"The Doctor," Jenny frowned. "That's it?"
"That's all he ever says," Donna sighed.
"So, you don't have a name either?" Jenny prompted. "Are you an anomaly, too?"
The Doctor rolled his eyes as he worked through the control panel "No," he muttered.
"Oh, come off it. You're the most anomalous bloke I've ever met," Donna chuckled.
"That's just the name he chose," Ariel sighed. "You chose to be called Jenny and he chose to be called the Doctor. Everyone deserves to choose what they're called," she nodded.
Jenny nodded in understanding. Ariel could see she was just trying to work out her father was and truly didn't know why the Doctor disliked her so much. It wasn't her fault that she existed, but it wasn't the Doctor's fault either. Ariel didn't enjoy listening to Donna press him to father Jenny and it wasn't easy for the Doctor to explain everything about himself to his daughter seeing as everytime she spoke he was reminded of what he lost, but Ariel could see he was getting used to it. She wasn't sure if that was supposed to make her happy or just break her heart even further at the fact that he was getting used to the pain Jenny presented.
The Doctor got into the control panel and grinned. "Here it is," he sighed.
"And Time Lords," Jenny sighed. "What are they for, exactly?" She wondered.
"They're not, they're not for anything," the Doctor frowned.
"So what do you do?" Jenny asked, with a shrug.
She was genuinely learning about a universe outside of just fighting and being a soldier. She was trying to understand races out of those just born to fight and Ariel smiled softly at her. She did truly admire that the blonde was trying to learn.
"I travel through time and space," the Doctor replied.
"Hold on, Doctor," Ariel mumbled, pointing at the control panel. "These look like the controls for a door," she sighed.
"Yeah," the Doctor frowned. He pulled out his sonic once again and sonicked the controls. "If we can just get it open," he muttered.
"He saves planets, rescues civilisations, defeats terrible creatures. And runs a lot. Seriously, there's an outrageous amount of running involved," Donna grinned at Jenny.
The door opened and the Doctor grinned. "Got it!" He exclaimed.
Just then, off in the distance they heard the sound of loud boots echoing throughout the corridor. "Squad five, with me," General Cobb commanded in the distance.
"Now, what were you saying about running?" the Doctor chuckled.
Donna grinned at him and he grabbed Ariel's hand, putting his sonic back in his suit as he bolted through the corridor with the distant voices of the soldiers following them.
They got far enough away that they couldn't hear the other soldiers, but skidded to a stop in front of a passageway with an array of laser beams criss-crossing it.
"Oh, brilliant," Ariel sighed sarcastically.
"That's not mood lighting, is it?" Donna groaned.
The Doctor pulled the clockwork mouse out of his suit and tossed it at one of the laser beams. It sparked and disintegrated.
"Oh, thank, God. I hated that thing," Ariel mumbled and the Doctor chuckled and shook his head at her while Donna stared at the laser beams with wide eyes.
"No, I didn't think it was mood lighting," Donna said.
"Arming device," the Doctor muttered, nodding in irritation.
He turned and luckily found a control panel to his side. He sighed in relief and got to work on it, pulling his sonic out of his suit once more.
"There's more of these," Donna frowned at the metal plate by the side of the control panel. "Always eight numbers, counting down the closer we get."
This one read: 60120713.
"So, it must be counting down to the Source," Ariel nodded. "Though I can't work out why they have 601207 before it," she muttered. "That must mean something."
"Right, here we go," the Doctor muttered as the control panel started working for him.
"You'd better be quick," Donna nodded to him as the sounds of distant boots started to draw closer.
"Corridor!" General Cobb yelled to the other soldiers.
"The General," Jenny gasped.
"Oh, just what we need," Ariel moaned.
Jenny pulled up her gun and started running away but Ariel darted after her and grabbed her wrist. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Yeah, hold on, where do you think you're doing?" the Doctor asked.
"I can hold them up," Jenny shrugged.
"No, we don't need any more dead," the Doctor shook his head.
"We're not going to stop them from following us by killing them," Ariel agreed.
"But it's them or us," Jenny reasoned.
"That doesn't mean you have to kill them," the Doctor frowned, shaking his head once again.
"I'm trying to save your lives," Jenny sighed. "Both of you," she said, glancing at the two parental figures staring down at her with sad eyes.
"Jenny, you don't like it," Ariel shook her head. "Once you've left a dead body in your wake. It kills you."
Jenny seemed to tune Ariel out and the Doctor sighed in frustration, leaning down and praying she would listen to him. "Listen to me. The killing. After a while, it infects you. And once it does, you're never rid of it."
"We don't have a choice," Jenny shrugged.
"Of course, we have a choice!" Ariel insisted.
"We always have a choice," the Doctor nodded.
"I'm sorry," Jenny sighed and pulled her wrist out of Ariel's grasp, running towards the approaching soldiers.
"Jenny!" the Doctor called, but it was too late. She disappeared and soon after they heard gunfire being exchanged.
The Doctor took a deep breath and marched back to the control panel, raking his fingers through his hair and shaking his head to try and tune out the sound of his daughter killing people. Ariel sighed softly and wrapped her arms around him and pressing a quick kiss to his cheek as a silent apology for the fact that neither of them could do better.
He turned and glared at Donna. "I told you," the Doctor said, shaking his head. "Nothing but a soldier."
"She's trying to help," Donna reasoned, not understanding why the Doctor was so opposed to seeing Jenny as his daughter and not a simple soldier.
"Doctor, you know we have to try and help her," Ariel mumbled, appealing to his more reasonable side. She knew he would listen to her above any of them. After all, she had just spent the past hour in a cell defending him against Donna and Jenny. "Forget for a minute that she's your daughter. She is still a Time Lord. She still needs to learn better than always killing," Ariel said, still keeping her arms wrapped around him.
The Doctor sighed softly and nodded, messing up his hair as he focused his attention on the control panel. "Alright," he muttered.
Donna grinned victoriously at the sound of the Doctor agreeing to at least try and help Jenny. It was better than nothing.
The Doctor started getting closer to knocking out the laser beams. "Jenny, come on!" He called.
"I'm coming!" Jenny exclaimed.
The lasers went out and the Doctor beamed at the sight while Ariel giggled and gave him a quick kiss out of joy.
"That's it," Donna gasped.
The Doctor nodded. "Jenny, leave it!" He yelled. "Let's go!"
"Jenny, the lasers are out! Come on!" Ariel called.
The Doctor grabbed Ariel's hand and the pair of them ran down the passageway while the lasers were still down.
They all spun around and Ariel felt the Doctor tense up as he anxiously awaited the sight of his daughter on the other side of the passageway. Once the blonde made an appearance, the Doctor inhaled sharply and squeezed Ariel's hand. Ariel grinned up at the Doctor. He was beginning to accept the fact that he was Jenny's father. She could see it in him. She was proud of him. The only thing she didn't like about Jenny was how fighting was her automatic default, and she knew if the woman travelled with her and the Doctor, she could learn better.
"Jenny, come on. That's it," the Doctor said, gesturing to her from the other side of the passageway.
"Hurry up," Donna nodded.
Just as Jenny was about to step forward, the lasers powered back on, blocking her exit.
"No, no, no, no, no, no. The circuit's looped back," the Doctor moaned, staring at the lasers in horror.
"Oh, my God," Ariel breathed.
"Zap it back again!" Donna exclaimed.
"He can't!" Ariel cried.
"The controls are back there!" The Doctor nodded.
"They're coming," Jenny gasped, turning at the sound of soldiers nearing behind her.
"Wait. Just. There isn't. Jenny, I can't," the Doctor stammered wildly, in utter disbelief at the fact that he would be losing another child.
Jenny stepped back and took a deep breath. "I'll have to manage on my own," she nodded. "Watch and learn, Father," she grinned.
She tossed her weapon to the side and somersaulted through the laser beams. Ariel stared at her wide eyes.
"Now that is something I'd like to see you try," Ariel giggled as Jenny landed in front of them and beamed up at Ariel and the Doctor.
"No way. But that was impossible," Donna stammered, staring at Jenny with a frozen expression of utter disbelief.
"Well, it can't be impossible seeing as she is right there," Ariel grinned with pride at Jenny.
"Yeah, not impossible," the Doctor nodded, smiling down at his daughter. "Just a bit unlikely," he chuckled as he hugged the blonde tightly. "Brilliant!" He exclaimed. "You were brilliant. Brilliant."
"I didn't kill him," Jenny shook her head with a grin. "General Cobb, I could have kill him but I didn't. You were right. Both of you were right," Jenny said, glancing at Ariel and the Doctor. "I had a choice," she nodded.
Ariel smiled at her. "I'm so proud of you," she said and Jenny beamed up at her.
Just then, General Cobb and the other soldiers marched up to the other side of the laser grids and Ariel grabbed Jenny's hand.
"Now, it's time to run," Ariel mumbled and all three women bolted down the corridor.
The second Ariel saw the Doctor wasn't following them, she told Donna to run ahead with Jenny and headed back to the Doctor.
"I warned you, Cobb. If the Source is a weapon, I'm going to make sure you never use it," the Doctor said.
"We're not going to stand by and watch you just commit genocide," Ariel shook her head.
"One of us is going to die today and it won't be me," General Cobb snapped, glaring at the couple.
The soldiers surrounding General Cobb raised their guns and started shooting at the couple. The Doctor grabbed Ariel's hand and bolted away from their hail of bullets, running to catch up with Donna and Jenny.
Once they met the women, the Doctor pulled the map out of his suit and he and Ariel began working out where they were and how to proceed.
Meanwhile, Jenny steadily grew more and more curious about her father.
"So, you travel together, but you're not together?" Jenny asked Donna.
"What?" Donna frowned. "No. No. No way. No, no, we're friends, that's all," she shook her head.
"But Ariel?" Jenny prompted. "She and him-?"
"Are together," Donna nodded. "They're sort of perfect for each other if you ask me," Donna smiled, watching as her two closest friends walked as close as physically possible to each other, finishing each other's sentences as they tried to work out where they were on the map. "They were travelling together before I even started travelling with him."
"And what's it like, the travelling?" Jenny wondered.
"Oh, never a dull moment," Donna sighed softly, grinning at Jenny. "It can be terrifying, brilliant and funny, sometimes all at the same time. I've seen some amazing things though. Whole new worlds."
"Oh, I'd love to see new worlds," Jenny smiled.
"You will," Donna assured her with a nod. "Won't she, Doctor?" Donna prompted.
"Hmm?" the Doctor froze, turning to Donna with a raised eyebrow. He had been so engaged in his conversation with Ariel, he wasn't listening to their conversation like he normally did.
"Do you think Jenny will see any new worlds?" Donna asked.
The Doctor frowned and raised an eyebrow at Ariel. She grinned and nodded furiously, silently telling him that she would love to have Jenny on board. He never brought anyone on board without making sure it was alright with her. He had done so with Donna and he wasn't willing to do it without her input, even if t was his daughter.
"I suppose so," the Doctor shrugged, smirking down at the blonde.
"You mean," Jenny breathed, her eyes widening as she realized what the Doctor meant. "You mean you'll take me with you?"
"Well, we can't leave you here, can we?" the Doctor smiled.
Jenny grinned widely and jumped up to hug the Doctor. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" She exclaimed and the Doctor just chuckled as he hugged her back. When Jenny pulled away, she glanced down the corridor wildly. "Come on, let's get a move on," she insisted, bolting forward.
"Careful, there might be traps!" The Doctor called.
Ariel sighed. "Jenny! Slow down!" She yelled before rolling her eyes and raking her fingers through her hair.
"Kids," Donna sighed. "They never listen," she said as she eyed the Doctor and Ariel with a small smirk. "Oh, I know that look. I see it a lot round our way. Blokes with pushchairs and frowns. You've got dad-shock."
"Dad-shock?" the Doctor echoed with a frown.
"What? There's an actual word for that?" Ariel chuckled. She knew the look. It happened all too often when kids at school had sex without protection but seemed so surprised when they got pregnant.
"Yeah," Donna nodded. "Sudden unexpected fatherhood. Take a bit of getting used to," she shrugged.
Ariel snorted as she realized Donna didn't know about the Doctor's other children. She knew it wasn't her fault, but it was amusing to see her talk about a man who was a grandfather like he was a first time father.
"No, it's not that," the Doctor frowned, shaking his head.
"Well, what is it then? Having Jenny in the Tardis, is that it? What's she going to do, cramp your style? Like you've got a sports car and she's going to turn it into a people-carrier?" Donna wondered.
"Donna," Ariel sighed. "The Doctor has been a dad before. A grandad even."
Donna froze. Her eyes widening as she stared at the couple. "What?" She frowned.
"I lost all that a long time ago, along with everything else," the Doctor sighed.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know," Donna mumbled awkwardly. She felt terrible as she realized how hard she had been pressing the Doctor about caring for Jenny like a proper father. Now, she knew why Ariel had been so mad at her for it. She was protecting the Doctor. Protecting him from remembering the deaths of his kids. "Why didn't you tell me? You talk all the time, but you don't say anything. You only tell Ariel all of this. I never knew," Donna sighed.
"I know," the Doctor nodded. "I'm just. When I look at her now, I can see them. The hole they left, all the pain that filled it. I just don't know if I can face that every day," he shrugged.
Donna sighed softly. "But it won't stay like that," she insisted. "She'll help you," she said, nodding to Jenny. "Ariel will too. So will I."
"But when they died, that part of me died with them. It'll never come back. Not now," the Doctor muttered.
"I tell you something, Doctor. Something I've never told you before. I think you're wrong," Donna said firmly, staring up at him with wide eyes.
Just then, gunfire echoed throughout the corridor and Jenny came running back, her permanent grin still etched across her face. "They've blasted through the beams. Time to run again. Love the running. Yeah?" She prompted breathlessly.
Ariel chuckled and nodded. "Yeah," she said.
"Love the running," the Doctor beamed and Jenny nodded furiously before they all started running once again.
Soon, they reached a set of three corridors. They could hear gunfire or shouting from each of them.
"We're trapped," Donna gasped.
Ariel spun around to the wall behind them and frowned at the ridges along it. It looked like the doors that they had run through before.
"Maybe not," Ariel muttered. She stepped back and stared at it with wide eyes. "This is a door," she grinned.
The other three all spun around and their eyes widened as they realized that Ariel was right.
"Oh, brilliant, you are!" the Doctor exclaimed, pulling her in for an overjoyed kiss before pulling out his sonic out and using it on the door.
Ariel giggled as Donna stepped forward curiously as she spotted another one of those metal plates.
"This must be the Temple," the Doctor frowned up at the door.
"And again," Donna muttered at the metal plate that read 60120712. She pulled out the paper and pen the Doctor had given her and marked it down. "We're down to one two now," she mumbled.
"That must mean we're getting close," Ariel guessed.
"I've got it!" the Doctor exclaimed when he found the right setting on his sonic.
"They're getting closer," Jenny warned, tapping Ariel and the Doctor anxiously.
"Nearly done," the Doctor nodded.
"Y'know, I think you're right, Ariel," Donna hummed. "These can't be a cataloguing system," she shook her head.
"The only thing I can't get out of my head is, why eight numbers? Could it be something about the location? Or maybe a time or something? It has to be marking something, I just can't work out what."
"They're getting closer," Jenny muttered warily, still tapping the couple.
"Then get back here," Ariel sighed, waving for Jenny to take cover behind her and the Doctor as she stared at the numbers with Donna.
"They're too similar. Too familiar," Donna mumbled.
"Too familiar?" Ariel frowned, at first confused by the statement but finding she agreed with the ginger. "Yeah," she nodded. "But I can't work out where from. It's like it's right there on the tip of my tongue."
"But you just can't seem to get it," Donna nodded in agreement.
"Now!" the Doctor cried. "Got it!"
The Doctor finally got the door open and they all bolted through immediately.
"They're coming," Jenny mumbled anxiously. "Close the door."
The Doctor did as she said and locked it behind them before sighing softly and turning to Ariel, pressing a kiss to her forehead as he wrapped his arms around her.
"Oh, that was close," Jenny sighed, grinning at her father hugging the woman he loved.
"He likes to cut it just a bit too close," Ariel nodded, having grown well adjusted to the Doctor risking it by then.
"No fun otherwise," the Doctor shrugged and Jenny giggled and nodded.
Donna frowned up at the spaceship surrounding them. "Not exactly what I'd call a temple," she muttered.
"Yeah," Ariel frowned, pulling herself out of the Doctor's arms and grabbing his hand as she stared up at the tall ship.
"It looks more like-," Jenny began.
"Fusion drive transport," the Doctor nodded. "It's a spaceship."
"It can't have been used by any of the soldiers," Ariel shook her head. "With the folklore they're spreading, they probably wouldn't want to believe their origins probably comes from here. Which means this should be-."
"What, the original one?" Donna frowned. "The one the first colonists arrived in?"
"It could be," the Doctor nodded. Jenny grinned at the trio. Their minds all seemed to be connected. Whenever they thought, they seemed to think in unison, to come up with things together. It was astounding just to watch. "But the power cells would have run down after all that time. This one's still powered-up and functioning. Come on," the Doctor said, tugging on Ariel's hand and guiding them up a staircase.
They all headed up the flight of stairs to see someone cutting their way through one of the doors.
"It's the Hath," Jenny breathed with wide eyes. "That door's not going to last much longer. And if General Cobb gets through down there, war's going to break out."
The Doctor and Ariel exchanged a wary glance and were about to leave when the Doctor spotted something out of the corner of his eye. A small podium with a touch screen on it.
"Look, look, look, look, look," the Doctor said, pulling Ariel forward as the two women followed. "Ship's log."
The Doctor put his glasses on and pulled Ariel in front of him so he could read it over her shoulder. The screen said Messaline Leader One mission log designation XG2482942-372.
"First wave of Human/Hath co-colonisation of planet Messaline," the Doctor read.
"Core subterranean deployment successful. Online and active. Phase one initiated. Construction drones deployed. Construction of sections 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3C & 3D complete. Phase one in progress. Construction drones active. Construction of sections 1C, 1D, 2C, 2D, 3A & 3C complete," Ariel continued reading.
"So, it's the original ship," Jenny nodded, confirming what Ariel had believed.
"What happened?" Donna wondered.
"Construction drones deployed," the Doctor hummed. "They used robot drones to build the city," he mumbled.
"But does it mention the war?" Donna asked.
The Doctor scrolled down through Phase One in progress. Construction of western quadrant complete. Phase two initiated. Commencing colonisation protocol 0.7. Designated pioneer progenation in progress. Mission commander quarantined due to eruption of byzantine fever. Prognosis negative.
"Final entry," the Doctor announced once he found it and he wrapped his arms around Ariel's waist as he read. She grinned up at him and held his arms. "Mission commander dead. Still no agreement on who should assume leadership. Hath and humans have divided into factions. That must be it. A power vacuum. The crew divided into two factions and turned on each other. Start using the progenation machines, suddenly you've got two armies fighting a never-ending war."
"Two armies who are both now outside," Jenny nodded, listening anxiously to the armies trying to get inside the ship.
"Look at that," Donna breathed, pointing up at a screen displaying numbers similar to the ones they had found through the tunnels.
60120724.
It was right above a screen displaying the surface of the planet. Barren and devoid of life.
"It's like the numbers in the tunnels," the Doctor shrugged, resting his chin on Ariel's head.
"No, but it's larger," Ariel breathed, frowning at it.
"No, no, no, no," Donna shook her head, assuring the couple that neither of those things had drawn her attention. "But listen, I spent six months working as a temp in Hounslow Library, and I mastered the Dewey Decimal System in two days flat. I'm good with numbers. It's staring us in the face."
"Oh, I knew it looked familiar!" Ariel exclaimed.
"Now, you're getting it," Donna chuckled, nodding at her.
"What is it?" Jenny frowned.
"It's the date," Donna breathed and Ariel grinned, nodding along with her. "Assuming the first two numbers are some big old space date, then you've got year, month, day. It's the other way round, like it is in America."
The Doctor released Ariel and jumped up victoriously, grinning as he understood. "Oh!" He exclaimed. "It's the New Byzantine Calendar!"
"The codes are completion dates for each section. They finish it, they stamp the date on. So the numbers aren't counting down, they're going out from here, day by day, as the city got built," Donna explained, gesturing to each set of numbers in turn.
"Yes. Oh, good work, Donna," the Doctor hummed.
"Doctor, you still don't understand," Ariel said, staring at him with wide eyes.
"Yeah, you're still not getting it," Donna nodded. "The first number we saw back there, was 60120717 . Well, look at the date today," she said, gesturing to the screen.
"Oh seven twenty four," the Doctor breathed, frowning at the screen. "No," he mumbled.
"Now, you see," Ariel nodded with wide eyes, smiling at him.
"What does it mean?" Jenny asked with a small frown.
"It means it's only been a week," Ariel said.
"Seven days," the Doctor nodded breathlessly.
"That's it. Just seven days," Donna shrugged.
"What do you mean, only a week?" Jenny asked, unable to keep up with the trio's rapid train of thought.
"It's been a week since war broke out," the Doctor said.
"This war started seven days ago," Donna sighed. "Just a week. A week!" She exclaimed.
"They said years," Jenny frowned.
"No, they didn't," Ariel shook her head with a small smile. "They never actually gave a time frame. They just said as long as they can remember. Generations," she grinned, stepping towards Jenny slowly.
"And if they're all like you, and they're products of those machines," Donna continued.
"They could have twenty generations in a day," the Doctor nodded, finishing their conjoined conclusion. "Each generation gets killed in the war, passes on the legend. Oh, the both of you are geniuses!" He exclaimed giving Donna a kiss on the forehead and Ariel a quick kiss on the lips.
"But all the buildings, the encampments. They're in ruins," Jenny reasoned.
"No, they're not ruined," the Doctor shook his head. "They're just empty. Waiting to be populated. Oh, they've mythologised their entire history," he hummed. "The Source must be part of that too. Come on." He grabbed Ariel's hand and they all ran forward.
Eventually, Ariel skidded to a stop, yanking the Doctor backwards as she spotted a familiar face shivering by some machinery.
"Martha!" Ariel exclaimed, grinning at the woman.
"Ariel!" Martha grinned. "Doctor!"
"Martha!" the Doctor cried, beaming down at the woman. "Oh, I should have known you wouldn't stay away from the excitement," he hummed as he and Ariel hugged the woman.
Martha just chuckled and turned to Donna. "Donna," she smiled, hugging the red-head.
"Oh, you're filthy," Donna frowned, pulling out of Martha's arms and staring down at the woman's clothes. "What happened?"
"Yeah, no offense, but you stink a bit too," Ariel winced, plugging her nose.
"I, er, took the surface route," Martha mumbled awkwardly, gesturing up to the planet's surface.
"Positions!" They heard General Cobb order from somewhere in the distance.
"That's the General," the Doctor sighed, raking his fingers through his hair furiously. "We haven't got much time."
"We don't even know what we're looking for," Donna frowned.
"Is it me, or can you smell flowers?" Martha asked, sniffing the air curiously.
"I can smell you," Ariel remarked, her nose still plugged.
Martha just sighed with a soft smile and moved Ariel to the other side of her. "Stick downwind," she advised.
"Ah, yeah, I can smell flowers," Ariel smiled, sniffing the air while Martha laughed. "That's a bit odd," she muttered.
"Maintain defensive positions!" General Cobb shouted.
"Yes. Bougainvillea," the Doctor frowned. "I say we follow our nose," he recommended, sniffing the air and following the smell as it got stronger.
They followed the scent until they reached a room filled with plants like the ships own mini garden. The Doctor grinned at the sight and Ariel spun around, smelling the plants and peering at each of them gleefully.
"Oh, yes. Yes. Isn't this brilliant?" the Doctor beamed.
Ariel nodded firmly. "I love it," she sighed. "I love gardens. My dad used to take me to one every year during spring break when I was a kid," she sighed and the Doctor grinned, wrapping an arm around her as they approached the center of it all.
A glowing globe sat on a pedestal with wires running to it. Nearby, there was a control panel and a screen, most likely monitoring the globe.
"Is that the Source?" Donna asked.
"It must be," Ariel shrugging, smiling down at the shining globe.
"It's beautiful," Jenny breathed.
"What is it?" Martha asked. Looking down at it, they all knew the Source wasn't built to commit genocide like General Cobb thought it did. Instead, it brought life.
"Terraforming. It's a third generation terraforming device," the Doctor said, peering down at the device.
"So why are we suddenly in Kew Gardens?" Donna wondered, glancing around curiously at the garden surrounding her.
"Because that's what it does," the Doctor nodded.
"It's not designed to commit genocide like General Mace wanted," Ariel smiled. "It brings life. Oh, that is a plot twist I am happy to see," she sighed and the Doctor nodded firmly in agreement.
"It produces plant life. All this, only bigger. Much bigger. It's in a transit state. Producing all this must help keep it stable before they finally-," he explained but was cut off by the dozens of boots running in on both sides of them and dozens of guns clicking.
The Doctor ran forward and held up his hands to both the Hath and the soldiers all aiming their weapons at each other.
"Stop!" the Doctor cried. "Hold your fire!" He shouted.
"What is this, some kind of trap?" General Cobb sneered at the Doctor.
"Oh, I really don't like him," Ariel hummed and Donna nodded in agreement.
"You said you wanted this war over," the Doctor reminded him.
"I want this war won," General Cobb snapped, correcting the Doctor.
"You can't win," the Doctor shook his head. "No one can. You don't even know why you're here. Your whole history, it's just Chinese whispers, getting more distorted the more it's passed on. This is the Source. This is what you're fighting over. A device to rejuvenate a planet's ecosystem. It's nothing mystical. It's from a laboratory, not some creator. It's a bubble of gases. A cocktail of stuff for accelerated evolution. Methane, hydrogen, ammonia, amino acids, proteins, nucleic acids. It's used to make barren planets habitable. Look around you. It's not for killing, it's bringing life. If you allow it, it can lift you out of these dark tunnels and into the bright, bright sunlight. No more fighting, no more killing," he said, picking up the globe.
"I'm the Doctor, and I declare this war is over," the Doctor announced before smashing the globe on the floor.
"God, I love you," Ariel sighed, grinning at the Doctor as the gas and energy from the globe swirled through the garden reaching both the Hath and the soldiers. It slowly rose up to go to the surface and rebuild the planet for them.
One by one, the Hath and the soldiers all dropped their weapons, leaving General Cobb as the only one holding a gun.
"What's happening?" Jenny asked Ariel and the Doctor, staring up at the pair of them with wide, curious eyes.
"The gases will escape and trigger the terraforming process," the Doctor said.
"Soon, on the planet's surface, all new plant life will grow across it, just like it did here, but much bigger," Ariel grinned.
"What does that mean?" Jenny asked.
"It means a new world," the Doctor said, smiling down at her.
He wrapped an arm around Ariel and the pair turned around, not noticing General Cobb had raised his gun at them.
"No!" Jenny cried and jumped in front of the Doctor and Ariel, taking two bullets to the chest. The bullets meant for the Doctor and Ariel respectively.
"Jenny!" Ariel screamed.
The soldiers surrounding General Cobb forced his weapon out of his hands and shoved him to his knees.
The Doctor held Jenny is his arms on the ground while Ariel grabbed Jenny's hand and held it tightly, taking rapid and shaky breaths as she stared down at the blood pouring out of the blonde's chest.
"Jenny? Jenny. Talk to me, Jenny," the Doctor pleaded, tears forming in his eyes as he rocked his daughter.
"Jenny, don't do this," Ariel begged. "Jenny, please."
"Is she going to be alright?" Donna mumbled to Martha.
Martha simply shook her head no.
"A new world," Jenny sniffled, tears streaming down her face as she smiled at Ariel and the Doctor, glancing up at the glowing gases. "It's beautiful."
"Jenny, be strong now. You need to hold on, do you hear me? We've got things to do, you and me, hey? Hey? We can go anywhere. Everywhere. You choose," the Doctor smiled sadly down at her.
"That sounds good," Jenny breathed, her voice growing strained.
"You're my daughter, and we've only just got started. You're going to be great. You're going to be more than great. You're going to be amazing. You hear me? Jenny?" The Doctor asked, tears beginning to fall down his cheeks.
Jenny's strong grip on Ariel's hand grew slack and her eyes fluttered shut.
Ariel fell back on the ground, her hands covering her mouth as silent tears streamed down her face.
The Doctor rocked his daughter sadly, pressing a kiss to her forehead as he cried over her. "Two hearts. Two hearts. She's like me. If we wait. If we just wait," he pleaded.
Donna helped Ariel to her feet and hugged her as the brunette sobbed into her chest.
"There's no sign, Doctor," Martha shook her head. "There is no regeneration. She's like you, but maybe not enough," she shrugged sadly.
"No," the Doctor shook his head. "Too much. That's the truth of it. She was too much like me," he muttered.
The Doctor laid Jenny on the ground and pressed a kiss to her forehead before marching to General Cobb.
Cline and another soldier were holding his arms, keeping him on his knees as the Doctor glared down at him. He picked up General Cobb's pistol and with a shaky hand, tears still on his face, he pressed the gun to his head. He kept it pressed against General Cobb's temple for a while and everyone in the garden seemed to be watching with bated breath.
He sighed and put the safety back on, not allowing himself to go that far. "I never would," the Doctor spat at General Cobb. "Have you got that? I never would. When you start this new world, this world of Human and Hath, remember that. Make the foundation of this society a man who never would!" He announced loudly to both species.
They all stared up at him with some strange mixture of awe and shock. He sighed softly and marched over to Ariel.
They ran into each other's arms and hugged one another tightly, crying over the girl they had both loved.
They brought Jenny back to the camp and laid a blanket down on one of the tables before placing her down on top of it.
The sunlight began to stream through the stained glass windows, kissing her face beautifully.
"It's happening," Martha smiled, staring at the fresh sunlight. "The terraforming."
"Build a city, nice and safe underground, strip away the topsoil and there it is," Donna smirked. "And what about Jenny?" She asked, turning to the Hath and Clint standing by Jenny's side.
"Let us give her a proper ceremony. I think it'd help us. Please," Clint begged the Doctor. He took a deep breath and nodded, wrapping an arm around Ariel and pulling her close as she smiled sweetly as Jenny's body.
They got back to the Tardis and the Doctor heaved a deep sigh as he stood by the console, numbly staring at it as he hugged Ariel close to his body, clinging to the one thing he wouldn't let fade and flicker from him.
Martha and Donna stared at them both sadly, at a loss for how they could possibly express their condolences to two people who just seemed to lose everything.
"Jenny was the reason for the Tardis bringing us here," the Doctor announced. "It just got here too soon, which then created Jenny in the first place. Paradox," he sighed. "An endless paradox," he mumbled before turning to Martha. "Time to go home?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah," Martha nodded. "Home," she sighed.
The Doctor started up the Tardis and Martha realized that she had almost allowed herself to get lost in travelling with the Doctor again. It was so easy to lose yourself when you were around him, that memories of what you were leaving behind just seemed to disappear momentarily.
She watched Ariel beam up at the Doctor and knowing the young girl didn't have much back home made it a lot easier to understand how she could be so comfortable building a relationship with a man that never stays in one place too long.
Ariel only had a single person to worry and think about back home, not a big family like Martha. She had the wonderful opportunity to lose herself in a life with the Doctor.
They landed and Martha smiled at them, saying her farewells to each of them and heading out.
"Hold on," Donna said. "I'll walk you there," she told her.
Martha nodded and the two women headed out and down the street together.
"Ah, we might as well go too," the Doctor mumbled to Ariel and she nodded.
"Yeah," Ariel sighed softly.
They headed outside and Ariel closed the door behind them. They walked up behind Martha and Donna and only stopped when the two women hugged and Donna headed back inside the Tardis.
Ariel followed Donna back to the Tardis, giving the Doctor a quick kiss before going back with the red-head.
Meanwhile, the Doctor and Martha walked on.
"We're making a habit of this," the Doctor remarked with a small smirk.
"Yeah. And you'd think it'd get easier," Martha sighed and the Doctor chuckled, nodding in agreement. Martha stopped walking and turned to him, taking a deep breath. "All those things you've been ready to die for. I thought for a moment there you'd finally found something worth living for. A real family. Ariel and Jenny could've been really good for you."
"Oh, I still got something worth living for," the Doctor assured her with a nod. He didn't want to die and leave Ariel behind. Not when the start of something great was just beginning.
Martha smiled and hugged the Doctor.
"Bye, Doctor," Martha said.
"Goodbye, Doctor Jones," the Doctor grinned.
The Doctor headed back to the Tardis where Ariel was waiting for him just outside.
He grinned and wrapped her in a strong hug that lifted her off her feet. Martha watched the exchange with a soft smile and glanced down at her engagement ring before heading back inside her own home.
Meanwhile, back at the camp. Cline and the Hath put a pillow under Jenny's head. They put a sheet over her and were about to move it over her head with Jenny's mouth fell open and a golden energy flowed from it. She gasped and her eyes opened making both Cline and the Hath jump back in surprise.
"Hello, boys," Jenny grinned. She jumped off the table and took off running before Cline and the Hath could even process what was happening.
When they did, they chased after her, unsure of where a woman just awoken from the dead might go.
"The shuttle," Cline said with wide eyes as he heard engines whirring. He and the Hath ran forward and he pressed his finger on the comms to talk to Jenny. "Jenny? What're you doing? Come back," Cline requested, at a loss for how Jenny was even alive at that moment.
"Sorry," Jenny sighed. "Can't stop. What are you going to do? Tell my parents?" She chuckled.
"But where are you going?" Cline frowned.
"Oh, I've got the whole universe," Jenny grinned, launching the shuttle into the sky. "Planets to save, civilisations to rescue, creatures to defeat, and an awful lot of running to do."