Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who. More at the end. Happy reading!

Donna, Rose and Chantho arrived back at the laboratory, where the Doctor was marvelling at Professor Yana's handiwork. Donna was relieved to see the TARDIS there. The sooner she could get out of this nightmare, the better. She was of half a mind to get back in right now just to be certain.

"Donna!," the Doctor said excitedly, holding up some stringy thing. "Look at this! It's made out of food!"

Donna turned to look at Yana. "Your propulsion system is made out of food?"

"Nothing wrong with that," said the Doctor. "He's worked brilliantly with the materials he has. Genius, really."

Donna looked at the Doctor. "Did you ever see the Top Gear where they made a rocket out of a Reliant Robin?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Uh, no, how did it go?"

"Not well," said Donna.

"Maybe you should watch less television," Rose offered from across the room.

"Just as soon as you give up the peroxide," said Donna.

"Oh, we're back to old times then," said the Doctor, looking at Yana's circuitry for something, anything to do with the sonic.

"Chan, what is peroxide, tho?"

Jack leaned over to Chantho. "Donna's making fun of Rose's hair."

Rose walked over to Jack. "What is with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm your friend. You only just met her. Whose side are you on?"

Jack shook his head. "I didn't come here to get in the middle of a cat fight, but you know if you two wanted..."

Rose crinkled her nose in disgust. "She is awful. Why can no one see that?"

At exactly that moment, the Doctor let out a burst of laughter accompanied by Donna's.

Jack nodded his head at the interaction. "He doesn't seem to think so."

Rose didn't answer.

"I saw your mother's name on the list of the dead at Canary Wharf," said Jack. "I'm sorry."

Rose grew uneasy. "Uh, no, well, she's not dead. She's in a parallel world."

Jack frowned. "But that means-"

"I'm never seeing her again."

"I'm sorry, Rose."

Rose shrugged. "Don't be. I decided to stay with the Doctor."

"You what?"

Rose finally looked up at Jack's expression. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You chose to never see her again?"

"The Doctor needs me."

Jack made another glance at the other side of the room which contradicted that statement. He looked back to Rose. "I lost my dad and my brother when I was just a kid, Rose-"

"I lost my dad, too, Jack."

"I don't think you thought it out, that's all," said Jack, trying to shrug it off and not come out sounding so harsh on a very young friend. He wasn't certain if it was their over a century separation or something else, but she was starting to seem younger every second.

"I don't need you lecturing me, too."

They were somewhat mercifully interrupted by a series of alarms.

"Chan, we're losing power, tho!"

"Radiation's rising!," said the Doctor.

"We've lost control," said Jack.

"The chamber's going to flood," said Yana.

"Jack! Override the vents!," shouted the Doctor.

Jack grabbed two live cables.

"What the hell are you doing?!," shouted Donna.

"We can jump start the override!"

"Don't! It's going to flare!," said the Doctor.

Jack screamed as the power coursed through him and fell limply to the ground.

"Jack!," shouted Rose.

Everyone hurried to check on Jack, except the Doctor. Donna hurried down and started CPR.

Donna looked back at the Doctor, floored by his seeming callousness. "Want to help?"

"The chamber's flooded with radiation, yes?," the Doctor asked Yana.

Donna scowled. "Help me! Now!"

"Without the couplings, the engines will never start. It was all for nothing!," said Yana.

"Oh, I don't know," said the Doctor. He grabbed at Donna's shoulder. "No, really, leave him."

Donna looked up at the Doctor to glare. "Okay, he flirts better than you, taking this a little far, don't you think?"

The Doctor frowned. "You think he flirts better than me?"

Donna turned back, to do more CPR, finding that Jack had just awoken and was again gasping for breath.

"Was somebody kissing me?," asked Jack.

"It seems to me, Professor, that any man you send into that chamber will die... I've got just the man for the job," said the Doctor.

"What?," asked Rose.

"You're going to have to explain that one!," Donna shouted after them as they ran out. She turned and looked at Rose. "How long's he been able to do that?"

Rose shook her head. "He hasn't."

"He's been waiting for the Doctor over a hundred years," said Donna. "That has to happen somehow."

"What makes you think I know?"

"Right! I forgot! You don't know anything!"

Donna turned back to the monitor that had been giving them problems. "Maybe we can find out what's going on..."

She played at the controls with Professor Yana and Chantho's instruction. They got a grainy picture of the control room and an audio feed of the Doctor and Jack talking as the latter worked at the controls inside.

"Last thing I remember, I was mortal," said Jack. "I was facing death by three Daleks and then I came back to life. What happened?"

There was a long silence.

"Rose," was what broke the silence as the Doctor said it.

"What?," Rose let escape her lips.

"I thought you sent her home."

"She came back, does that a lot actually. Opened the heart of the TARDIS and absorbed the Time Vortex."

Donna turned to Rose. "You did what?"

"It was the only way to save the Doctor."

"You opened up the TARDIS." Donna looked back at the blue box. "But she's alive."

"I did what I had to," said Rose.

"Yeah and what did you do to Jack?"

The Doctor spoke again. "She brought you back to life but she couldn't control it. She brought you back forever. That's something, I suppose. The final act of the Time War was life..."

"Could she change me back?," asked Jack.

"I took the power out of her. She's gone, Jack." The Doctor paused. "Do you want to die?"

"I used to think so," said Jack. "Now, I don't know. I could always go out, run into myself."

"Only man you'll ever be happy with," said the Doctor.

"This new regeneration," said Jack. "It's kind of cheeky!'

Donna turned to face Rose. "You made him immortal?," asked Donna.

"I didn't know," said Rose.

"How many times do you think he's died?," asked Donna.

"But he's alive! And so's the Doctor! Because of me!" Rose looked squarely at Donna. "I tried! Someone had to, someone had to take a stand! What about you? Isn't there anything you care enough about to try something, anything for?!"

Donna was about to lay into Rose, but caught sight of Yana. "Professor, are you alright?"

The Professor shook his head, looking stricken. "Time travel. They say there was time travel back in the old days. I never believed. But what would I know? I'm just a stupid old man. Never could keep time. Always late, always lost. Even this thing never worked."

Donna's eyes widened as he pulled out a fob watch. It was the same as the one that the Doctor had as John Smith.

Could it be?

"Can I see that?," asked Donna.

"Oh, it's only an old relic. Like me."

"Where did you get it?," asked Donna.

"Oh. I was found with it."

"Found?," asked Donna.

"An orphan in the storm. I was a naked child found on the coast of the Silver Devastation. Abandoned with only this."

"Have you opened it?," asked Rose.

"How can I? It's broken."

"How do you know it's broken if you never opened it?," she asked.

"Chan, Professor, you must rest, tho."

Donna turned to glare at Rose. "You know what? I just remembered I've never seen a radiation venting place. I wonder if it's really like Star Trek II, you know, when Spock melted, so I'll just do that and Rose, you'll just stay here with the Professor..." She tried to give Rose a meaningful look, unsure if the girl caught it or not and hurried out of the room, deciding speed was essential in such cases.

She ran nonstop until she almost smacked right into the Doctor who was otherwise engaged with some bit of technology. "He's got a watch!," she screeched.

"What do you mean he's got a watch?," asked the Doctor.

"A fob watch! Like yours! Same scribble circles and everything on the side!"

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Are you sure?"

"Yes!," said Donna.

"So, he's got a watch? So what?," asked Jack.

"It's Time Lord," said Donna.

The Doctor shook his head, still distracted. "It's not a watch. It's this device, it rewrites my biology..." He turned back to Donna. "What did he say?"

"He looked at it the way you did," said Donna. "You know, that perception filter thing."

"That means he could be a Time Lord!," said Jack. "You might not be the last one!"

"Jack, keep it level," said the Doctor, trying to focus on the task of the rocket.

"What does that mean?," asked Donna. "Is that good or bad?"

"I don't know," the Doctor muttered. "I don't know... The watch. Can he see it now?"

Donna was about to answer that she didn't know when Rose came bounding in.

"You were supposed to watch him!," Donna shouted.

"How do I know? I'm not a mind reader, am I?"

Donna groaned. "What if he opens the watch?"

Rose shrugged. "Then he's a Time Lord."

"If he is, end of the universe, great place to hide," commented Jack.

"Yes!," said Donna. "So he might be a Time Lord! A good one? A bad one? What was he hiding for? We don't know anything so maybe we don't want him opening it!"

The Doctor was still shaking his head. "It can't be. He can't be..."

"The Face of Boe, Doctor," said Donna. "What about his last words?"

"Face of Boe?," asked Jack.

The Doctor picked up the phone again. "Lieutenant? Have you achieved velocity? Have you done it?"

"Affirmative. We'll see you in Utopia," was the reply.

"Good luck." The Doctor hung up. He ran towards a door. The other three followed and then it slammed down in front of them.

"Not a great sign," said Donna.

They heard another alarm go off. They heard the roar of the tribe of Futurekind.

"And another not great sign," said Donna.

"This way!," shouted Jack.

They ran down the endless corridors to another door with a small window on the lab. Jack went to work on the keypad.

"Professor! Professor, let me in! Jack, get the doors open! Professor! Professor, where are you?! Professor! Professor, are you there?! Please, I need to explain! Whatever you do, don't open that watch!"

"They're coming!," shouted Rose.

Donna joined the Doctor in banging on the door. "Open that door or I'll rip your eyes out!"

The door finally, mercifully, opened. They rushed inside to find the professor standing in the doorway of the TARDIS. There was a moment where he and the Doctor stood, sizing each other up as Donna knelt beside Chantho on the floor. The Doctor moved forward, then the professor stepped inside the TARDIS. The Doctor rushed over to try his key, but it wouldn't open. He took out his sonic to try that, but it also didn't work.

The Doctor pounded on the TARDIS door. "Let me in!"

Donna stood up from Chantho. "She's dead."

"I've broken the lock, give me a hand," Jack said to Rose.

"I'm begging you! Everything's changed! It's only the two of us! We're the only ones left!," the Doctor shouted.

Rose rushed to help Jack.

"Just let me in," the Doctor said desperately.

The window of the TARDIS lit up. It seemed as if flames lit up to Donna. Then the screaming started.

"What's going on?," asked Donna.

"He's regenerating," said the Doctor.

"Doctor, you better think of something," said Jack.

Donna went to the door to try to help Jack and Rose shut it as the Futurekind banged away at it, even shoving each other in the quest for fresh meat.

"End of the bloody universe," muttered Donna. "I told you!"

"Hello?" A voice boomed out from the TARDIS trying out different pitches. "Hello? Anyway, why don't we stop and have a nice little chat while I tell you all my plans and you can work out a way to stop me? I don't think!"

"What is he talking about?," asked Donna.

"I know that voice," said Rose.

"I know it, too," said Donna.

"I'm asking you really properly! Just stop! Just think!," the Doctor pleaded.

"Use my name," boomed the reply.

Donna crinkled her face. "What is that about?"

"Master, I'm sorry," said the Doctor.

"I can't hold out much longer, Doctor!," said Jack.

The Doctor held out his sonic screwdriver again.

"Oh, no, you don't!," shouted the Master. "End of the universe! Have fun! Bye bye!"

The Doctor watched as the TARDIS dematerialized.

"Doctor!," shouted Donna, trying to keep her hand from becoming a nibble. "Would you get over here and help? Unless of course you want us to be a cannibal's luncheon!"

The Doctor rushed to join them at the door.

Author's Notes: Since we're at a critical juncture in the story, I am going to alter our arrangement to have the next chapter out on Wednesday. I hope to keep it at three days, maybe less from here on out. So, otherwise, thank you for reading. I love getting reviews, favorites and follows. Thank you so much.

Another hint on the mystery joke because I've been asked: Orejas.