Rose

It's Complicated... Very Complicated

"Vashta what?!" asked Rose, starting to panic.

"Vashta nerada, it's a swarm. They live on every single planet with life and they eat anything made of meat," said River.

"The dust in sunbeams..." echoed Donna.

"So... that shadow... it's... it's alive?!" said Rose.

"Yes," said River, "and we're trapped."

"Even you? But you're a hologram, they can't eat you," said Clara.

"What about me?" asked Jack.

"Best not to risk it," said Ten. Suddenly the shadow started expanding away from them up the cliff, though the boundary facing them remained the same.

"What's it doing? Doctor, what's it doing?!" asked Martha, panicking and huddling towards Mickey.

"Trying to stop us," said Ten, "it's a clever swarm, they've been listening. If Jack goes through all his flesh will be eaten."

"But he's chock full of time and artron energy, that could do incomprehensible things to the swarm. Maybe allow them to time travel, who knows," said Eleven.

"Thanks for telling them that," said Clara, crossing her arms and glancing round nervously.

"You're wel- oh..." he said, catching on to her sarcasm. Rose could watch them all day, one minute they were like love-struck teenagers, the next like bickering siblings and the third like an old married couple. It was a lucky dice of which Clara and which Eleven was present, and rarely were they both one type. It was often love-struck Eleven and old-married Clara, they were always clashing. The only people who didn't seem to notice this were the two in question. And possibly Mickey, Rose knew from experience Mickey didn't really catch on about the feelings of others until it was too late or the moment had passed him by completely.

"Stay out of the shadows - especially Jack," said Nine.

"If only there were a telepathic field we could use to talk," said River.

"Where's a Face of Bo when you need one, eh?" joked Rose. Ten and Martha exchanged knowing looks and glanced to Jack, who was looking incredibly confused towards Rose.

"Me?" he asked.

"Sorry, what?" said Rose, misunderstanding completely.

"You said a Face of Bo, I'm -"

"Aaand that's all," said Ten, "come on, suppose we should try and get somewhere before nightfall. Somewhere with lights."

"Lights stop them?" questioned Rory.

"No, but they slow them down. And if there's light you know where they aren't," said Ten.

"Hang on, aren't?" asked Amy.

"Yep. Can't tell where they are. For all we know it could just be those ones up there, maybe all these shadows are normal. Or maybe every single one is hiding millions of them," said Ten, skirting the edge of a very warped looking shadow.

"How do you know there are people still here?" asked Mickey.

"Because that over there is an embassy, and they have special rooms where leaders can go to defend themselves against this sort of thing," said Ten, nodding at the tall skyscraper quite a way in front of them.

"Won't they be trying to get in though?" asked Donna.

"Yeah, that's a good point!" Mickey agreed. But they had no time to think about it as they were suddenly blinded by floodlights from a building to their left.

"STAY WHERE YOU ARE! DON'T MOVE!" yelled a voice through a megaphone.

"Well don't shout at them or they'll know how many of you there are!" said Ten in his high-pitched hysterical voice he did whenever somebody did something wrong in his eyes.

"HOW DID YOU GET HERE? TRANCHA II IS SEALED OFF FROM THE REST OF THE EMPIRE!" the voice practically screamed at them. A few even put their hands over their ears.

"We'll tell you when you turn of your megaphone!" argued Ten. They heard an amplified sigh, and then a noise like feedback.

"That's a negative, I'm not allowed to stop recorded communication before we know who you are," they said.

"Oh 'we' now, is it? Maybe you should just walk out into the swarm to tell them even more about you than you already have!" said Ten.

"The swarm have limited intelligence, they're not a hive mind," said the voice exasperatedly.

"The swarm have evolved - look, how long have you been here?"

"Sixteen days and counting. Hold on, doors opening now. The lights are altered to keep the swarm at bay, it's safe out here," the voice said, then they heard a noise like metal shifting. Rose's eyes only just altered against the blinding light when Ten started leading them towards the door with his hand over his eyes to shield himself.

They finally made it into the building that was still incredibly well-lit, lights shining into every corner of the room and a trio of people. Two of them were blue with a few scale-like blemishes that were silver and glowed under the light. They were the same height as humans more or less and didn't differ a great deal when it came to their build, but their heads were pulled back and there were spines running down their backs. They reminded Rose of dragons. One was a boy and one was a girl, it was quite easy to tell. Finally, the third woman looked completely human, she was short with blonde hair, but Rose knew from experience looks could be deceiving. The Doctors all looked perfectly human, apart from their dress, but even that wasn't too different. Not on Earth, anyway.

Then Rose glanced at Ten, who was staring wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the blonde girl. She looked around the group. Donna and Martha bore the exact same shock, Eleven looked slightly surprised but was more concerned with Clara who was also staring at the blonde.

"Excuse me, am I missing something here?" asked Rose.

"Jenny..." said Ten.

"Jenny? Who's 'Jenny'?" said Rose, not even pretending she didn't feel a pang of jealousy for whoever this girl was. Surely not another like Christina?

"Dad?" choked the girl, looking directly at Ten.

"Dad!?" exclaimed Rose, Nine, Jack, River, Amy, Rory and Mickey. The girl, Jenny, dropped her gun to the ground and ran straight into Ten's arms, hugging the bemused and slightly teary Time Lord so tightly Rose was shocked Ten didn't turn purple.

"Is anyone going to explain?" asked Rose, having no clue what was happening.

"Who is this daughter of yours?" asked Jack, flashing Jenny a smile over Ten's shoulder when they stopped hugging.

"But you died..." he said seriously, ignoring Jack's remark.

"I came back," she answered simply. "You know, planets to save, people to rescue. And an awful lot of running to do."

"You mean you regenerated?!" he said. She nodded. "You are a Time Lord!"

"Lady," corrected Clara from the back, "Time Lady."

"Jenny! It's me, Donna!" said Donna. Jenny grinned and went to hug Donna too, then, upon recognising Martha, she got the third hug.

"Did I miss something? Did she just say 'Dad'? Who's the mother?" asked Amy, voicing the thoughts of everyone not in the know.

"I'm the mother," said Ten, as though this was obvious.

"But wait... Then who's the father?" Jack said, a devilish look in his eye.

"Me!" said Ten, like this was the obvious explanation. "She's a clone, made by a single tissue sample. There was a war, on this planet - Messaline. Lasted a week, it's complicated."

"I thought we were over this clone nonsense," said Jenny, annoyed.

"You are a clone though, just a special clone. A Time Lord - Lady - clone," said Ten, grinning boyishly. "What are you doing on Trancha II?" Jenny shrugged in answer.

"Biggest embassy in the universe right now, thought it'd be worth a look. Got the coordinates wrong though, ended up on the day the vashta nerada invaded," she instinctively checked a device on her wrist.

"Is that - hang on, is that a vortex manipulator?!" said Ten dissaprovingly. "Give it here, I can't have humans running round with teleports!"

"I'm not a human!" Jenny argued, stepping back from him and holding her left hand away. "I'm a Time Lady, and I couldn't find a TARDIS so I had to make do with second best."

"Second? A vortex manipulator is not second best," said Ten.

"I wasn't talking about this, I was talking about my spaceship," she said proudly.

"Spaceship?!" said Ten.

"I stole a lot of technology about... 190 years ago? Some sonic stuff too, got myself a screwdriver. And a gun, but mainly a screwdriver. And enough of these manipulators to wire into the Messaline ship I stole and convert it into a time machine," she told him happily.

"You did what?! But that's... That's... That's BRILLIANT!" he yelled, "You really are my daughter!"

"190 years ago?" asked Donna incredulously.

"Well, 193," she corrected.

"How old are you?" asked Martha, disbelieving.

"207," answered Jenny curtly.

"What? Really?" said Ten, Rose thought it impossible for his smile to get any wider.

"Yes. Anyway, what are you doing on Trancha II? Did you overshoot as well?" she asked knowingly.

"Not so much. Just put the TARDIS on random. Didn't know where we were gonna end up, and by the time we figured it out the swarm blocked us off. Anyway, meet the family! I think you've got about three step-mothers and a half-aunt here. This is Rose Tyler, my, err..?" he had trouble introducing Rose.

"Half-wife," said Rose.

"How does that work?" asked Jenny curiously. Rose could definitely see the Doctor in her eyes and warmed instantly to her half, possibly quarter, step-daughter.

"It's very complicated. It involves this... thing... and a... hand..." Rose struggled. She glanced around for help and Donna stepped forward, taking on the last remnants of the Doctor-Donna's persona.

"A two-way biological metacrisis with your Dad's hand. Filled up with his regeneration energy then I touched the hand, Rose's husband grew out of the hand and he was part human and I became part Time Lord. That makes me your half-aunt. Rose married the clone of your Dad so she's your...?"

"Quarter-step-mother, let's say," said Eleven, joining in the confusion. "I'm the Eleventh Doctor, the next regeneration and your half-father! This is my wife, Clara Oswin Oswald, who is also your quarter-step-mother and this is my other wife, River Song, who is another quarter-step-mother. These are her parents, Amy and Rory Pond, who are also your quarter-step-grandparents-in-law."

"Brilliant, I'm a grandmother," said Amy bitterly.

"This is the Ninth Doctor," said Rose taking over again, "also your half-father, I think. And that's Martha - you've met, apparently - and that's Mickey, her husband. And finally-"

"Captain Jack Harkness," said Jack, flashing his most winning smile. "Pleasure."

"No, Jack. Stop it!" growled Ten. "Don't you dare."

"Overprotective parent much?" said Jack, "C'mon, she's 207, I'm sure she can look after herself. Besides, I was only saying hello."

"Yeah, and we're not gonna stick around for you to say goodbye... Anyway! Did you get all that?" Ten asked Jenny, who looked completely dumbstruck, looking at the twelve of them. Rose had never quite noticed how complicated everything was when you travelled with the Doctor.

"Could you run everything by me again? In order, possibly?" Jenny suggested. They all groaned.

"While you're at it, do you think you can maybe tell us about this man-eating shadow swarm?" asked Rory politely.