A/N: I don't have much to say. Just that I'm happy that OpenOffice is letting me save things again (check the last chapter's end A/N for the story of why it wouldn't). I'm also looking forward to Christmas – I must have chosen about a dozen annuals, and the three Terry Pratchett movies in one box set (sadly, the books themselves don't catch my interest). Christmas next year, I might just be able to get a 3DS if I can sell my DS and/or Dsi and make a good enough profit.
We're nearly at chapter 40! A bit of whovian trivia (Whovia?) for you all: The TARDIS that the Doctor drives is a Type 40 Mark III Model TARDIS – not a very up-to-date model even when he got it, as it goes.
Chapter 38 – Small mercies
The Master was pacing. Damn that Doctor and his infectious habits!
"It was early in the pregnancy; even the respiratory bypass couldn't have been fully developed." Donna told him, watching his snarl gradually abate, but for fear of her slapping him again.
"You can't spend your whole life blaming him. You said yourself, if anything bad happened you'd get through it together." Jack said, at the time not being very helpful.
The Master rounded on all of them, "Why does there have to be another thing for me to worry about, huh? Why couldn't he bloody just stay inside…"
"It was never guaranteed that they'd all survive, even in the safety of the TARDIS." Donna reminded him.
The Master ran through events in his head: Amelia getting kidnapped by a bunch a strange reclusive beings called the 'Not-people', gathering a small search party (with the Judoon on call if need be), the Doctor stealing the TARDIS while none of them were looking, finding the crater in which Amelia had been located and lowering into said crater, walking for god-knows how many miles until finally reaching some conclusions and finding a way forward, the Doctor exiting the TARDIS and walking for hours until falling head-first into the very same crater and possibly causing premature labour, then going into said labour only to find out one of their babies was dead.
"He's bloody brought this on himself, the prat…"
"Excuse me? I think you'll find something equally if not more painful brought on you in a minute, mate."
"No, I mean – both of you, how many times has he told you to stay somewhere and you've deliberately disobeyed him?"
"I'd rather stay where it's safe." Donna admitted, though this caused Jack to grin.
"We can't all have wandered off 546 times, baby." he said, not really hoping to curry her favour.
"And it's a wonder you had to be made immortal." Donna said, turning back to the Master for his unfinished wisdom.
"All I'm saying is, today – and numerous times recently, if I remember – he's directly disobeyed one of his own rules and look where it's got us."
"He's bound to be a bit… weird, it's who he is, and he's done stranger; He once swore a vendetta against the Alturian pope over an arm-wrestling tournament."
"It was a very serious arm-wrestling tournament." Jack scolded, "Whoever won got to free the Alturian people from years of torture."
"By bubblegum."
"It was a very whack religion but it still used a substance deadly to the planet's population."
"Can you two not be an old married couple right now? I think we may have gone off track somewhere very early in this conversation." the Master snapped, "If both of you don't quieten down or help me figure a way out of this mess, I may just have to knock your heads together."
"She started it!"
"Do you realize how ridiculous you sound?"
"You look it!"
The Master's patience was clearly wearing thin, "If you two don't shut up I'm going to send you back to help Martha!"
They had reached an expanse of land where the energy levels rose, finally.
"What's that smell?" Donna asked, completely forgetting about her and Jack's previous arguments.
"Artron energy – it's quite diluted on the TARDIS so you don't notice it there, but wouldn't recognize it with this high a concentration."
"Okay, without science speak, is it dangerous?"
The Master saw an opportunity for laughs and cunningly said, "Jack and I will be fine, but I'm afraid… it won't be good news for you." he winked at Jack, who quickly cottoned on.
"Yeah, you're only human; you'll never fully be used to the effects." Jack said theatrically, managing to keep a straight face.
"What'll happen to me?" Donna asked, conveniently forgetting they were already surrounded by artron energy.
"Oh nothing, really… just a little question: have your family already made funeral arrangements for you?"
"Why would they need to?"
"Absolutely no reason! Just that this stuff tends to strip off your skin and leave like lazy Vashta Nerada if you're just a mortal human." the Master said, about to snap at Jack who had started snickering.
The effect was immediate, of course.
"I'm gonna bloody DIE! I should've stayed at the base!" for a second she looked terrified.
"Sadly yes, but there is a way to survive." Jack said, suddenly getting a better idea, "An outlying source needs to induce a heightened emotional state."
"Yes, that's what you've got!"
"…Not that kind of heightened emotional state." Jack was clearly enjoying this to no end.
It took her a few minutes to gather the meaning of his words, and she looked between the two men and then pointed a wary finger at the Master, "Maybe him but not you!"
"Oh c'mon, you know a part of all our arguments is just sexual tension!" Jack said.
"And part of what I am is not being a hussy." Donna said, although the thought of her impending radiation-induced death was getting to her.
"You're pulling my chain." she said doubtfully.
"And if we aren't?"
"Then if I do die, there's still a slim chance I won't be going to hell."
"Oh, baby I've been there – s'not as bad as everyone says."
"I'll believe that when I don't see it." Donna said.
"Brilliant, let's get going!" the Master said, now bored with their slowly crashing joke.
The Doctor was done crying, and his legs had fallen asleep.
"We need to keep moving."
"Hold on!" Jenny said, pulling him back down, "You've just given birth and sustained a major loss, you're not going anywhere until Martha gets here."
"It always comes down to me; they couldn't have taken Amelia if not to hurt me and my family."
"You can't always be the hero, let someone else save the day for a change." she rebuked, "You're in a bad enough state as it is."
"I'm fine."
"You're haemorrhaging."
"That's normal." the Doctor said, not looking down at himself.
Jenny shook her head, "I love you dad, but sometimes you're an idiot."
"No, what I am is myself again, for the first time in so many months." the Doctor said with a little bit of reverence in voice, "I'm oafish, stubborn, unnervingly intelligent and at times stupid, clumsy and brainless, but I am no idiot."
"Doctor?"
He looked in front of him – "Martha Jones, nice of you to show up." he sat up and pointed to the damp terrain behind them, "The TARDIS is that way."
He assumed, in his grief, that not even Martha could understand what he was going through, and so he became neutrally indifferent.
"Dad, we should get going." Jenny moved to help the Doctor stand, but he quickly shoved her off.
"I'm not pregnant anymore." neither the chill in the air nor his feet a foot deep in muck got to him as he sought to stand unaided, "I don't want to be treated like I can't do anything."
"Doctor, that's what you need most right now." Martha said, "Your body won't be able to cope with the walk back to the TARDIS if you're doing it on your own."
"Who says I want to go back?" he looked back to his baby daughter and then at his boys, "If this is all there is, there's nothing there for me anymore."
"There's the correct equipment to clean you up; you're covered in swamp grime and amniotic fluid."
"At least try to name her." Jenny implored.
"Sarah Jane – I was always going to use that name if we ever had a girl, and now it's quite ironic." the Doctor nodded, "Sarah Jane Smith; your auntie's got nothing on you."
"I'm probably overstepping my mark here, but you could give her a middle name too." Martha said, looking down at the little bundle quizzically.
"What? What more could I do?"
Martha continued, "I was going to call my daughter Melody, but I think it suits this little one better," she opened her bag and they caught a glimpse of a fuzzy image.
"How far along are you?" the Doctor asked, seeing a marvellous little life forming in an ultrasound picture.
"About eight weeks."
"Mickey coping well with the news? He's always been an emotional bloke."
Martha shook her head, "Doesn't know; I only just got this image done before I was called up by your husband, and I don't know what to tell mine."
The Doctor knew that despite their quarrels (mostly concerning Rose and/or Jack), Mickey had always been a loyal friend, and his expertise when they left Amelia with him and Martha was enough to tell that he loved children.
But he had more important things to get on with, and would fix Martha's level of communication with Mickey later.
"Jenny's right, I need to keep moving. We're losing too much time as it is."
"The Master's finding Amelia, you don't have to do anything."
"The day the Master and I adopted Amelia, her DNA was intelligently hardwired with each of ours respectively – whatever happens, she's biologically ours and the mothering bond has triplicated over the time we've had her, I'm her mother and this isn't the best time to try to stop me from saving her. So either take me and the babies back to the TARDIS and condemn me to emotional torture, or let me find her." he paused to take a breath and then finished, "My boys are too young to know anything and they seem to be surviving well; Amelia is my little girl and I keep sensing her calling out to me."
"She probably wants both of you."
"I am her mother, I am the one who protects her, it's been that way even since before we invented time travel, all the fathers are good for is being a strong male presence." at this moment the Doctor seemed so old, or most likely it was his words, which bore an air of many a chapter in Gallifreyan history.
"Times change, dad, you have to let the Master do all the work with this one thing." Jenny said, hoping to bring him back to the present and instantly regretting her choice of words.
"It's my right as a mother to be the one to protect my young."
It was clear that neither Martha nor Jenny realized quite how deep this bond ran, and he tried a different tact, "Martha, when that baby's born and there's an alien invasion on your doorstep, won't you be the first to protect your baby by any means necessary?" he saw Martha falter at his words, clearly a sore spot had been hit.
"He's right, but don't listen to him, we have his best interests at heart." Jenny said, looking towards Martha pleadingly
A few years ago, Martha Jones had thought the Master to be cold, insane and manipulative, but now she was seeing this side with the Doctor and it terrified her, "We're taking you to the TARDIS whether you like it or not."
"Nice try Martha, but I can hear the break in your voice. Do you really have it in your heart to keep me from the child I've fought so long for?" his eyes sparkled with a madness long forgotten, and had he had any sense at the time even he would have realized how senseless he sounded.
"Soon your babies won't be able to live on respiratory bypass alone and we'll have to get them to the TARDIS."
Martha felt a tap on her head like a knock on a telepathic door, and so answered it, What are you doing?
I nicked the sonic from dad when I found him and just used it to ramp up your telepathic capabilities.
It can do that? Martha tried not to show a hint of surprise on her face.
Yes, now listen – a while ago I buried myself in the TARDIS library and did some research. While the babies may be post-labour and vulnerable, dad's number one priority is always going to be his eldest who's in danger.
So he can't help going looking for Amelia, it's biologically predetermined?
If I was in any trouble, his brain would naturally switch to focus on me.
So can't you just fake something to get his attention? Martha was getting decidedly impatient.
If we do, he won't know where to turn and it may cause irrevocable damage to his state of mind – worse than it already is.
So we just let him go after Amelia?
If it means any chance of him turning back to normal after she's found, yes. He can't help being this way, just like I bet you'd give your life for your baby right this second.
Martha prepared to roll her eyes – she should have known it was no use to have told them, they'd keep pushing the argument of her baby forward until they all reached some similar conclusion.
"We're taking the babies back to the TARDIS, getting the Doctor and them cleaned up (with the babies put the bed) and then all three of us are going to catch up with the Master; I can perform my post mortem later if we can keep Sarah Jane from decomposing."
Jenny nodded, "There should be a forensics centre somewhere on the TARDIS that has everything we need."
Things between Jack and Donna calmed down, much to the Master's short-lived relief.
"Okay, I've got one you'll like – 'shag, marry, push off a cliff'" Donna said, edging to Jack smartly.
"I love that one! Okay… Brian Blessed, Jo Brand and the Doctor."
"That's not fair, you gave me a woman and my best friend!"
"Play the game, coward."
"Eugh, okay… I'd shag the Doctor because, y'know, he's my friend and he'd completely understand. I'd marry Jo Brand because she seems like a nice woman and I've always fancied someone who can make me laugh."
"So you'd push Brian Blessed off a cliff?" Jack asked, one eyebrow now firmly raised.
"Oh yeah, the entire universe would sing my praises!"
As the two people behind him dissolved into raucous laughter, the Master became thankful that he had packed earplugs and they were still making good time.
"Okay, now you! Err… the inventor of facebook, Simon Cowell and Mickey – if you can name a friend, so can I."
"… Everything to Mark Zuckerberg. I'd sleep with him, marry him, and then push him off a cliff and collect on his insurance." Jack got a thoughtful look on his face, "I wouldn't touch Simon Cowell with a bargepole, and I'd have to marry Mickey if he weren't married already."
"You turned an innocent game upside its head! I'll give you only one person next time…"
"Throw it at me."
Donna thought up a sly payback, "What would you do with me? And don't say 'push off a cliff'; I'd push you off hours before you even had a chance to get near me."
"Perhaps a whirlwind romance with the redhead from Chiswick? I'll admit I've never been much of a marrying type."
"No? unbelievable." Donna said wryly.
"No, just listen! I wouldn't just do and leave like someone I haven't gotten to know as well as you, and especially as the Doctor would kill me; I can already tell you're not much for people making a fuss, but I'd do it anyway. Take you out for dinner, pay the bill, and then…" he leant forward and closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable – no pain came.
His eyes opened and he saw her smiling.
"Well, here's what I'd do; seeing as you took the trouble to wine [I'm assuming there's alcohol involved] and dine me, I'll pay the bill and there'll be no exception. Then I'd let you walk me home, maybe you'll get to hold my hand on the way if you're lucky," She leant forward like he had only a moment ago, "And then this…"
A few minutes later the Master looked behind himself and sighed, seeing his team-mates a dozen feet away, "Can you too keep your faces off each other for one second? We have a previous engagement to attend to, if you'd kindly disengage."
Martha was going to be asking him what she'd missed, he was sure, while Jack and Donna were being secretive about their newfound relationship.
"You two don't have to pretend in front of me; the TARDIS has sensed you getting together for years." the Master said, "You probably both deserve this – yes Jack, even you."
Jack turned back to Donna suddenly, "Wait, aren't you married?"
"Shaun was never really exciting enough for me, and I was too over the top for him. We're divorced now, so I'm a free agent."
"I guess that would make me a free ex time agent?"
Donna nodded, "Only until we find Amelia – and you'll have to stop with all the cracks if you think you have a chance in hell with me."
"Yes, ma'am." Jack said, pulling them in line with the Master.
A/N: Honestly, I'm not sure if they made any headway, I got so carried away writing Jack and Donna's developing relationship that I only just noticed this is up to 5 pages in OpenOffice.
Didn't I get this done fast! But really, I'm putting it up only a few days after I put up the last chapter, when it was started on something like… Thursday last week? Yeah, that's it. I've probably got it done faster than allot of my other recent chapters. Surely we're getting somewhere?
I think I've always secretly shipped Jack/Donna – you may see a Doctor/Donna fic in my online repertoire, but really I ship lots of pairings and they virtually never coincide. But Jack/Donna is cute in this fic, isn't it? I think it'd been a long time coming, and I axed Shaun what'shisname specifically so the Jack/Donna pairing could blossom.
Am I done talking? I can never be sure, I just know I should really be getting things wrapped up with a nice sparkly bow so I can write that Christmassy epilogue I promised. And I'll stop making Jack so schmaltzy. Maybe.
I've got one more thing to say - I'm aware that some of you may be in shock over the sudden turn in the storyline with the little Sarah Jane's death, and I myself would be upset it wasn't for the happy ending I'm thinking of. I don't want to give anything away, but at the same time I want none of you to be left in the lurch, as is the problems of a writer... I've started writing chapter 39 already! so we're getting somewhere.