Donna felt a wicked headache when she finally came to. The hard ground was underneath her, explaining the headache, and though she wasn't fully aware yet, she could feel someone shaking her.
"Donna! Wake up! Donna!" Her mother, Sylvia, was getting more frantic as the seconds passed by.
"What? What happened?" Donna groaned and sat up, soon realizing she was on her kitchen floor. Her eyes found the window and saw the sunlight was gone - it was night. It had been daytime last time she remembered. But lots of weird things had happened to her in the past day. One thing she was sure of, though, was that she would never visit UNIT again. Some weird alien fortune teller had thrown her into a parallel world just for fun! As soon as Martha and UNIT had pulled her out of that world, Donna had demanded to go home to be as far away as possible from the building.
The parallel world, as scary as Donna was sure that it was, seemed to fade away as the hours passed by. She could barely remember it now but she knew that things had been terrible, far more terrible than what she'd already seen in her travels. Even now it gave her chills trying to remember it, but actually...
Her eyes widened suddenly. One huge detail had just come back to mind.
"I gotta call the Doctor!" She jumped from the floor, ignoring her mother's shouts for her to stay. She was just about to call when she passed the open doorway and saw something that caught her eyes.
She backtracked and slowly emerged from the house, first seeing her grandfather shouting at nothing in particular with a bat in hand, but then she saw the sky. Her mouth went dry.
There was no sun, no stars, only big planets accommodated around each other.
"It's them aliens, I'll bet my pension!" Her grandfather, Wild, raged. "You get back inside, Donna. They always want the women!"
Donna shook her head and ran back into the house. She needed to get ahold of the Doctor and Renata now!
~0~
Inside the TARDIS, each of its inhabitants were in the same state of shock and terrible confusion. The Doctor had stopped running around the console now and was immersed in the monitor in hopes of making contact with somebody on Earth. At this point, he'd settle for anyone in order to figure out what happened.
Gabby was still by the doors, staring into space - the spot where planet Earth used to be - and still couldn't believe it was gone. She did think of something that pulled her into reality after a moment. "But... if the Earth's been moved... they've lost the sun! What about my family? Cindy! Donna! They're dead!? Aren't they? They're all dead..."
Renata hurried over, her night robe flowing with her quick strides, to pull the girl away from the open doors. She shut them behind them and turned Gabby back for the console. "We don't really know what's happened…"
"But that's my whole world - it's just gone," Gabby felt like her world was spinning - well, her world was gone but she was sure it was the feeling.
"There's no readings, nothing. Not a trace," the Doctor was getting frustrated by the monitor. "Not even a whisper. Oh, that is fearsome technology. And good technology."
"Doctor, let's focus less on the quality of the technology and more on the reason someone would even build that type of technology in the first place," Renata brought Gabby to the Captain's chair in hopes that sitting her down would prevent the girl from collapsing straight to the floor.
"What are we going to do?" Gabby still held a little hope that not everything was lost. Her eyes flickered from the Doctor to Renata and vice versa. They had to know how to do something that could help them. Yes, they were still arguing but when things were this bad, they would surely put everything aside to solve the problem.
"We've...got to get help."
Renata did a double take at the Doctor, unsure if she had heard him right.
"From where?" Gabby feebly wondered. He was the Doctor - who could he ask to help him out?
"You don't actually mean…?" Renata walked over to him, her face still shocked he was openly admitting that this time - just this time - they would need to go to…
"Well Renata, seems like we're finally going to the Shadow Proclamation."
"I don't like being right this time," Renata had just enough time to say before the Doctor started the TARDIS.
~0~
Donna helplessly dialed for the TARDIS number the Doctor had given her, but it just wouldn't work! She'd tried at least a dozen times but the call wouldn't go through.
"Have you gotten ahold of him, dear?" Wilf came into the kitchen.
"No! There's no signal. This number is supposed to call anywhere in the universe! Something must be blocking it!"
"Dad! Donna!" Sylvia cried from the living room. The two ran to see if she was alright (in what fit) and saw the television on.
'Unidentified spacecraft heading for Earth' was flashing across the screen.
'We're now getting confirmed reports of spaceships. The Pentagon has issued an emergency report…'
"They're saying spaceships," Sylvia shook her head, eyes closed to tears.
"C'mon Doctor," Donna dialed her phone with new hope that maybe this time things would work out.
"Who are you calling?" Sylvia demanded when she caught Donna putting the phone over her ear.
Donna only waved her off as she turned away, walking out of the living room. She returned to the kitchen and peered out the window again. This time she saw the huge spacecraft flying over them, looking pretty menacing.
'Exterminate!'
Donna froze. Had that…?
'Exterminate!'
Donna's eyes widened in horror. She had never seen them but the Doctor and Renata had done a good job of explaining to her how monstrous a Dalek could be. They were part of the reason why their entire world was gone...and it seemed like it was Earth's turn now.
~0~
"So...so we're actually going to the police?" Gabby was holding onto the Captain's chair as the TARDIS continued jerking every which way. The Shadow Proclamation seemed to be on a bumpy road. "You mean all this time there has actually been a space police!?"
"Yes!" Renata exclaimed. She was gripping the underneath of the console so she wouldn't slip.
"So how come we never met them!?"
"Doctor, you want to take that one?"
The Doctor's face went momentarily flat at Renata. "No. I just never thought I would need them!"
When the TARDIS finally came to a stop, the Doctor was careful as he led the two women out. He warned them they might not be so welcomed considering the messes he'd made in the past. As soon as they came out of the TARDIS - or rather slid out, one by one - they were greeted by a group of armed Judoon. Each gun soon took aim on them and one by one, the trio raised their hands to show they were on neutral terms.
"Sco po tro no flow jo ko fo to to," one of the Judoon began to say. Gabby watched in terror, wondering if they were truly dead now.
"No bo ho so ko ro toe so," the Doctor responded in the same manner. It definitely grabbed Gabby's attention. "Bo-ko-do-zo-go-bo-fo-po-jo!" Whatever he said had made the Judoon lower their guns. "Ma ho." Once the Judoon began filing out, the Doctor turned to Renata and Gabby. "They know why we're here. They're getting the Shadow Architect."
"I'm in the Shadow Proclamation...in my nightie…" Renata had just realized that detail and looked terribly embarrassed. "This is not the place to be in my nightie."
"There's no time, c'mon," he made a motion for her and Gabby to follow. Gabby kept quite close to Renata as they passed several Judoons.
The Shadow Architect turned out to be a tall, Albino woman. She seemed a bit condescending and very much in disbelief of their very presence.
"Time Lords are the stuff of legend. They belong in the myths and whispers of the Higher Species," she said, eyes flickering between the pair in front of her. "You cannot possibly exist."
"And yet here we are," Renata waved one hand while the other arm kept around her waist. She'd become very self conscious now that she realized how terribly under-dressed she was.
"We've got a missing planet," the Doctor rushed to get things moving along, but the Shadow Architect sighed in annoyance.
"Then, you're not as wise as the stories would say. The picture is far bigger than you imagine. The whole universe is in outrage, Doctor - twenty-four worlds have been taken from the sky."
Gabby nearly keeled over. "How many!?" So not only was her world gone, but there were 23 others!?
"And you never thought to make this information public!?" Renata seemed almost outraged. If they had made the information known then perhaps each planet would've had a chance at surviving whatever pulled them from their orbit. "It could have given people a chance! At the very least the knowledge that they needed to be on red alert!"
The Shadow Architect did not like her actions being questioned, but Renata had a glare that nobody could win against. "I...did not think they would believe us."
"If 24 planets are missing I'm sure somebody would've believed you if you had just said something!" Renata couldn't help that her tone had turned into a loud shout. There were too many peoples' lives at stake and nobody had done a damn thing about it so far.
"Show me which planets are missing," the Doctor instructed and since the Shadow Architect had already crossed one Time Lord, she obeyed without a fight.
The group were brought to a high tech computer that held a list of all the planets they had recorded as vanished.
"The locations range far and wide. They all disappeared, leaving no trace," the Shadow Architect explained while the Doctor studied the list. The more he read, the less he understood.
"Callufrax Minor, Jahoo, Shallacatop, Woman Wept, Clom - Clom's gone?! Who'd want Clom?"
"That's rude," Renata remarked beside him. "Whole planet's gone, Doctor!"
"Right," he mumbled and went on.
"All different sizes. Some populated, some not, but all unconnected," the Shadow Architect added.
"Wait, what about Pyrovilia?" Renata found herself asking. "Remember-" she looked at the Doctor briefly, "-way back when we were in Pompeii, Lucius said Pyrovillia had gone missing. Bet nobody batted an eye at it."
"Is that an ancient planet?" Gabby wondered, but in asking she garnered a condescending response from the Shadow Architect.
"Who is the female?"
Gabby scrunched her nose. "Excuse you! I might not be 'the stuff of legends' but I'm every bit as important as Time Lords, so give me some respect. Also, my world just vanished so I demand some sympathy."
Both Renata and the Doctor smiled proudly at Gabby. They'd never seen her act so authoritative and much less that confident.
"Pyrovillia is cold case. Not relevant," one of the Judoon in the room replied.
"How do you mean, 'cold case'?" Gabby asked him.
"The planet Pyrovilia cannot be part of this, it disappeared over two-thousand years ago," the Shadow Architect said.
"Like I said, nobody batted an eye at it," Renata motioned the Doctor to scoot out of the computer's way. "I wonder how many other planets just 'disappeared' without anyone wondering why?"
"What are you doing?" the Doctor saw her switch tabs on the computer.
"Going through the planets that disappeared long ago - aha look!" she pointed suddenly. "Remember the Adipose and Miss Foster? She said their breeding planet had disappeared a long time ago!"
"Oh, brilliant! You're brilliant!" the Doctor started exclaiming once he understood the true gravity of the situation. "The planets have been taken out of time as well as space! Scoot!" He scooted her away just like she had done earlier. He re-organized the list of planets into a hologram set in the center of the room for the others to see. "There's something missing. Where else, where else, where else, lost, lost, lost, lost...? OH! The Lost Moon of Poosh!"
"The Lost Moon of what?" Gabby raised a finger and watched as a very small planet - a moon - appeared last in the string of hologram planets.
"This moon, lost ago, - Donna and I heard about it on Midnight," the Doctor said dismissively. He was arranging the planets in a specific way in the air.
"What? When you went to that luxury planet?"
"Yes, now shush!"
Gabby scrunched her face and glanced at Renata, wearing an expression akin to 'we should've gone'. Renata rolled her eyes but let it be. It wasn't her fault that neither of them got to visit the spa planet. That was the day she and Gabby had visited 52st century China in order to see a new art gallery that was having their grand opening. It had been loads of fun for Gabby to meet with current popular artists and see their creations.
But on the other hand, she and Renata had missed the whole ordeal on 'Midnight', the planet where the Doctor and Donna had nearly died. They'd found some strange alien that was so intelligent it almost managed to get the Doctor thrown out of their train by some scared, manipulated humans. Renata had been outraged to hear what happened to the Doctor and demanded that they all go to whoever was in charge of the spa to get it shut down.
"Well…" the Doctor's new arrangement of the planets was interrupted when the stolen planets literally re-arranged themselves into an optimum pattern. "Look at that. Twenty-seven planets in perfect balance. Come on, that is gorgeous!"
"I'm getting tired of saying this, but...Doctor? Stolen planets!? Focus!?" Renata waved a hand at the holographic planets between them.
"Why'd the planets arrange themselves like that?" Gabby went around the hologram, eyeing each of the planets.
"Like pieces of an engine…" the Doctor mumbled in a half-thought. "It's like a power house. But what for?"
"Who could design such a thing?" The Shadow Architect breathed in awe and yet fear. Someone who could design a power tool like that was strong and fear-worthy.
"Wait…" Renata froze but she felt the wave of dreariness begin to wash over her. "It can't be...it can't be…"
"No, no…" the Doctor said rather fast but as he turned back for the computer, Renata swore she saw a look of panic flash across his face for a second.
"Ren?" Gabby feebly moved towards the Time Lady. "What's going to happen? Are-are we going to get them back?"
Renata had no idea what to say and it showed. Her eyes flickered to the Doctor and the Shadow Architect, both huddled by the computer again. None of them had the answers Gabby wanted to know and it killed Renata. "Why don't we go back to the TARDIS so I can get changed?"
Gabby knew the attempt of distraction and what it meant...and it scared her to pieces. Because if neither the Doctor nor Renata didn't know what was happening, then things were truly bad. "I-I want to sit down." Her legs felt like puddy the more she thought of her family and what they must be going through.
"Okay, we can do that," Renata quickly ushered the girl towards a staircase and sat her down on the first step. "You sit here and I'll be back in a bit." She closed her robe tighter and hurried off.
Gabby exhaled heavily. She felt so useless just sitting there with nothing to offer to the table. Her world was gone! She had to do something but...what?
In her distant thinking, she didn't notice an Albino servant coming by with a glass of water. "You need sustenance. Take the water, it purifies."
"...thanks," Gabby whispered and took the glass.
"There's a fluttering around you."
Gabby looked up at the man questionably. "Excuse me?"
"The same fluttering that's around your friend - the Time Lady? Only she is golden, and you are lavender."
Gabby's eyes instinctively flickered to the Doctor as if by extension it was the same thing looking at Renata.
"You are each something new."
"I really doubt it," Gabby took a long drink of water.
"Such a nice group of travelers...I am sorry for your loss."
Gabby lowered her glass to her lap and studied the servant for a second. For a brief moment she thought he might be playing with her feelings but...he looked earnest enough. "Yeah, thanks, I guess. No real words to tell someone when their world is gone."
"No, I mean the loss that is yet to come. I'm very sorry for you all," the servant lowered himself just enough to whisper. "But the butterflies could perhaps save you."
"Excuse me?" Gabby blinked. The servant was grim as he went on his way.
A short moment later, Renata returned wearing much more appropriate clothing. A nice, white buttoned-up blouse tucked under camel-colored pants. She went with the camel-colored flats thinking there would be some running ahead.
"Have we learned anything new?" She went over to the Doctor by the computer, but judging by his lost face there was nothing.
"Gabby?" He called to the girl by the stairs who was still trying to process what the servant's words meant. "Just think for a minute, please? There must've been some sort of warning. Was there anything happening back in your day, like... electrical storms, freak weather, patterns in the sky?"
"Other than the freaky stuff when I met you two?"
"She got you there," Renata whispered to the Doctor, something he was fast to wave her off for.
"Well, Donna did mention that she heard the bees were disappearing…"
"The bees disappearing," the Doctor sarcastically said, shaking his head. "The bees disappearing."
"You don't need to be rude - you asked me!" Gabby frowned.
"Oh...the bees disappearing!" The Doctor realized Gabby (and Donna) were very right in the matter and he was just about to brush it off. He returned to the computer with a new hope that, in turn, pulled Gabby and Renata.
"How is that significant?" The Shadow Architect studied each of the trio to understand what was so important about the insects she had only read about.
"Well, on Earth we have these insects - annoying but very useful - and according to our friend, Donna, a lot of them have been disappearing," Gabby explained.
"Or... they were going back home!" the Doctor exclaimed.
Gabby raised an eyebrow. "Back home? What do you mean…?"
"The planet Melissa Majoria."
"Bees are aliens!?"
Renata put a calming hand over Gabby's shoulder. "Your Earth is just full of surprises, isn't it?"
"You're telling me we have alien bees!?"
"Don't be so daft," the Doctor told her. "Not all of them. But, if the migrant bees felt something, some sort of danger, and escaped... Tandocca!"
"The Tandocca Scale," the Shadow Architect was beginning to understand by the looks of it.
And that's when the Doctor took off in a rambling speed that absolutely no creature should be able to master. "The Tandocca Scale is a series of wavelengths used as carrier signals by migrant bees. Infinitely small, no wonder we didn't see it. It's like looking for a speck of cinnamon in the Sahara!"
Gabby's face was a mixture of bemusement and horror, so she glanced at Renata for a better version of that and some plain answers on how the Doctor could possibly do that.
"Centuries have passed and I still have no idea," Renata exhaleed tiredly. The Doctor seemed to know exactly what she was talking about because he rolled his eyes at her.
"Just look!" He grabbed both Renata and Gabby and brought them to the computer screen. "There it is! The Tandocca trail!" There was a trail of blue light almost glittering on the screen. "The transmat that moved that planets was using the same wavelength! We can follow the path!"
"And get to Earth!" Gabby excitedly jumped. "Well let's go!" Now she grabbed the Doctor and Renata and yanked them for the TARDIS. Earth was at the tip of their fingers!
The Doctor somehow got in the lead and went straight for the console's monitor to pull up what they were looking for. "We're a bit late. The signal's scattered, but it's a start!"
"Uh, Doctor?"
He stopped to see Renata was at the doorway, pointing outside. He hurried back to see the Judoon all gathered behind the Shadow Architect. "I've got a blip! It's just a blip, but it's definitely a blip!" He told them.
"Then according to the strictures of the Shadow Proclamation, I will have to seize your transport and your technology," the Shadow Architect's words made him pause.
"Oh, really? What for?"
"The planets were stolen with hostile intent. We are declaring war, Doctor! Right across the universe! And you will lead us into battle!"
The Doctor wanted to be surprised...but he just couldn't be. It was such a predictable thing the Shadow Proclamation would pull. It was why it was far more fun when he glanced at Renata with a smirk. For one moment, they weren't arguing at all. They were just themselves again. "You want to take that one?"
The Time Lady was not remotely amused with his smugness. Of course he'd be smug. She was always on his case about never going to the Shadow Proclamation when things were bad, and much less let them handle things. Now that they were here, doing what she always said they should do, it turned out to be very bad.
"I…" she sighed, "Dammit." She had to admit defeat. "Let us go get you a key," she told the Shadow Architect with a polite smile then yanked the grinning Doctor behind her. He gladly let the doors close and immediately began to laugh as he trailed after her. "It's not funny!" She stalked over to the console. "I just lied to the Shadow Proclamation!" For her, that was blasphemy!
"Yeah you did!"
Renata stopped once she was at the console and glared at the Doctor. "I just lied...to one of the biggest, most official, departments."
"I told you-"
"-shut up!"
Gabby secretly smiled on the side. If they were bickering, making fun of each other, then it meant they couldn't be angry with each other, right?
~ 0 ~
Donna didn't know what was worse: having the Daleks roaming their world and kidnapping humans or having to explain just how terribly dangerous they were to her mother and grandfather. Her mother was scared beyond belief but that didn't stop her from disbelieving every word Donna was saying.
"I'm telling you, Mum! They're aliens from-" Donna pointed a finger above her head, "-space! The Doctor and Renata told me all about them!"
Sylvia would shake her head and mumble that they were going crazy and that if she was going to die, she would have some tea in hand. Donna groaned and let her head fall to the kitchen table in a loud thud. Her forehead would definitely hurt later.
"You couldn't get ahold of them, sweetheart?" Wilf sat right beside her.
Donna raised her head only to shake it. "They must have blocked the phone signals or something. I don't know what else to do. Martha's not picking up either and she's the only other one I had around here…"
Something peculiar happened that froze everyone in their spots. A knock on the door. And then two. And then three.
"The...whatever they're called? Is that them?" Sylvia huddled by the sink, but Donna shook her head again.
"Daleks don't knock, mother."
"No, you stay here," Wilf told her once she started heading out of the kitchen. "There's a lot of crazies right now."
"Yes, but no crazy banging nor shouts," Donna pointed out. She had hope that maybe it was Martha coming to help or at the very least to keep each other company. But when she opened the door she found a blonde on the other side with a massive gun in hand.
She was no stranger.
"I met you," Donna blinked in realization. "In-in that...that parallel world thing the fortune teller put me in! But Martha said it was all gone-"
"Hi Donna, I'd love to talk but can we do that inside where there's no Daleks lurking?" Rose Tyler had a big smile on her face despite the chaos around them. Donna wasn't sure what the hell was going on, but she nodded and stepped aside. Rose was happy to come in and leave behind the darkness, at least for a moment.
"Hold on!" Donna went after her. "Parallel worlds - the Doctor told me about that! You're not supposed to be here!"
Rose removed the hangar from her gun and set it on the couch. "Well, I was trapped...and then...things happened…" It had taken a lot for her to finally get to the right world and she wasn't going to let anything get in her way.
"You were in my world!" Donna reiterated in a frantic shout, almost begging Rose to agree so that Donna knew she wasn't crazy.
"I was," the blonde nodded her head. "I've been travelling from world to world, trying to find this Earth."
"But I don't...the Doctor said parallel worlds are sealed off. That's why…" Donna trailed off awkwardly. Reminding Rose of the terrible parting with the Doctor 2 years ago was probably something Rose didn't want to remember.
"Donna, who the hell is that?" Sylvia had come out of the kitchen with Wilf. The first thing Sylvia noticed was the massive gun on her couch.
"She's a friend of the Doctor's," Donna said with a light smile. Well, there was no Martha but they had Rose now. One for one.
"Rose Tyler," the blonde waved a nervous hand at them. Last thing she was thinking of was going through a proper greeting. Time was their only weapon, after all. "Donna, can you call the Doctor?"
"I've been trying but he's not picking up!"
That sentence alone seemed to rip through Rose. "What…?"
Donna sighed wearily. "I've been trying like mad but the signal doesn't go through. Wherever they are in space...it's not getting the signal."
"In space?" Sylvia repeated condescendingly.
"Oh mother, hush!" Donna unexpectedly snap. "It's all real, you know? Just take a look at the sky, for God's sake!"
The yelling between the two didn't seem to break through Rose. She dejectedly leaned against the couch as she processed that her only plan was on a halt. "You're my last hope. If we can't find the Doctor…"
There went the universe...universes.
~ 0 ~
The TARDIS had gone through a series of violent jerks until it suddenly stopped and threw everyone to the ground.
"Are we here!?" Gabby peeled her face off the floor and quickly laid eyes on the door.
"It's...stopped…?" the Doctor sounded confused and if he was confused then things were bad again.
"N-n-n-n-no don't say it like that, please!"
Renata got up first then helped Gabby. She was thinking like the Doctor that they couldn't have stopped. He was already at the monitor to see exactly where they had stopped.
"The Medusa Cascade," he said quietly. "I came here when I was just a kid. Ninety years old. It was the center of a rift in time and space."
"So...are the twenty-seven planets here?" Gabby left Renata's hold to see the monitor for herself. The space was beautiful with colors of blue and yellow and red all swirled together...but she didn't see her home planet. "Where...where are they?" She looked to see the Doctor was once again wearing that expression she hardly saw, because he never showed it. Hopelessness.
"The Tandocca Trail stops dead," he stepped away from the monitor, perhaps to hide his hopelessness. "...end of the line."
Gabby watched him like he was crazy. She'd never heard him say something like that, much less appear like he believed that. Her head turned to Renata in a snap to see what she would say.
She wasn't like the Doctor, but Renata had learned long ago how to hide her true feelings. Yet another gift from her family. Even if she was upset, if she was helpless, or hopeless, she should always wear a smile for everyone.
"We'll find it," Renata said. Her eyes blinked rapidly - she was thinking about Martha on Earth - and Gabby could hear the heavy inhales she was taking. "I don't know how but...we'll find it."
In any other situation, Gabby would've loved to point out how Renata and the Doctor had taken each other's roles. Renata, who was used to reality, was now daring to believe in the impossible like the Doctor and he was taking her perspective of reality to the last point. The irony.
~0~
Without Donna's working phone, Rose resorted to a computer. She didn't expect much from it but at the very least it could help with something.
"The thing is…" Donna was sitting right next to Rose in the kitchen, "In that parallel world...how did you know me?"
An amused smile spread across Rose's face while she went through the computer. "I told you that already: you're the most important woman in the universe."
"Oh come off it," Donna waved her off. "There were plenty of people connected to the Doctor after you. There was Martha-"
"Heard about her, lovely but she wasn't the one I needed."
"Alright, what about Gabby? She's young but she's definitely added something, right?"
"Gabby Gonzalez is not my domain persay."
"What do you mean?"
Rose visibly swallowed hard. "You have to remember, Donna, that I visited a lot of parallel worlds before coming to yours. I've seen versions of Gabby that...don't end so nicely."
Donna was quick to be horrified. "She dies?"
"No…" Rose tilted her head, wondering if this was even an appropriate conversation to have. With a sigh, she pulled her gaze from the screen to look at Donna. "There were a couple parallel worlds where something - I think a space art gallery of some sort - would contaminate Gabby and then she would end up as this…huge-" she made the gesture of something large with her hands, "-cosmic butterfly. And she wasn't a very nice cosmic butterfly."
"But that can't be. Our Gabby went to a space gallery too and-and nothing happened to her."
"Different world, different results. Maybe it just wasn't her."
Donna was sure the Doctor examined Gabby after Zhe's gallery, finding that Gabby was also exposed to the same toxins now hurting Renata. Maybe Gabby just wasn't hit with the same amount? Or because she's human? But then if it wasn't Gabby…
"Maybe it was someone else…" Donna whispered when it donned on her who'd been taking the worst hit from that space gallery. "Oh God, if it's Renata…"
Rose once again stopped on the computer and side-glanced Donna with a sharp look. "Renata? A Time Lady? Don't tell me you have one of her too." Donna met Rose's eyes, suddenly nervous when she remembered the whole ordeal between Renata and the Doctor. Rose presumed that was Donna's way of saying 'yes' and groaned. "Not her!"
"What? You know Renata?"
"Unfortunately. She's a Time Lady in the other worlds I crossed to but she was no help at all. She didn't care about the stars dying, nor that the Doctor didn't exist in her worlds or that he was dead."
"Well that can't be Renée," Donna used the Doctor's nickname for her as if she was trying to say that couldn't be his Renata. "You know, our Renata, she's very good at hiding her true feelings. I'm willing to bet that she was lying to you. She kind of does that." Rose didn't seem so sure. She went back to work instead, but Donna still had one more thing to say. "Our Renata here, she was contaminated badly and she's been having health issues…the Doctor's told me that he thinks she might be regenerating soon, or at least her body will try to." Donna remembered how terribly grim the Doctor was when he shared that detail with him. He was truly terrified of what could happen to Renata and there was nothing that he could do about it. Renata had been contaminated with something that nobody else had. And before the Doctor even knew who she was, he had already fallen for her. With all those feelings the situation had to be even more terrifying. Who'd want to lose someone they loved?
"Then I'm betting she's going to become the not-so-nice cosmic butterfly," Rose murmured, not particularly concerned for that bit.
Donna was worried, though, very worried. Could this have been the prediction Gabby told her about? Is that how Renata was supposed to die? And was that here? At this moment? They really needed to find the Doctor.
'You will obey Dalek instructions without question. You will obey your Dalek ma-'
Rose froze when the computer went pitch white. She blinked several times at it, wondering if they were about to catch a break.
'Can anyone hear me? The subwave network is open, you should be able to hear my voice…'
"Yes! Yes! I can hear you!" Rose was quick to say. Even Donna had leaned closer to see who was trying to talk to them. "
"Is there anyone there?"
Rose gasped. "I know that voice...!"
"This message is of the utmost importance. We haven't much time. Can anyone hear me?"
The screen cleared up a few seconds later and had Harriet Jones on the other end, flashing her ID at anyone who watched. "Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister!"
"Harriet! It's me, it's me!" Rose soon realized that Harriet couldn't hear her at all. She looked at Donna who shook her head.
"It's my grandad's computer!"
"Have you got a webcam?".
"No," Wilf answered from the couch. "She-" he nodded at Sylvia beside him, "-won't let me. She said they're naughty."
Rose sighed and looked at the screen again. "Well, I can't speak to her then, can I?"
So close and so far.
~0~
Renata had opened the TARDIS doors to the empty Medusa Cascade. She wasn't sure what she was doing, but at least she was doing something. She extended her hand, focusing on that sneaky energy that had caught her off guard far too many times. Now it was her turn to control it and maybe, just maybe, it would do something good for them. There were quiet wisps of energy that would emanate from her fingertips, but nothing too significant.
"Don't hurt yourself," the Doctor came up behind her. "We still don't know what that energy can do to you."
"If it'll get us somewhere, then I don't care." She closed her eyes to try again, but this time the Doctor lowered her. With a sigh of annoyance, she opened her eyes and turned around. "Stop that. I need to try again."
"But what's the point?"
Renata simply couldn't believe that those words were actually coming out of his mouth. He even looked the part of someone with zero faith. "The point is that I'm trying to do something! Just like...just like you would."
"Well who taught you that?"
Renata's expression went full-on incredulous. "You!" She frantically gestured to him. "In your annoying, talented way. It's the thing I've never been good at but you... you've always done that. I wish I could've been like that from the start."
The Doctor gave a light shake of his head. He moved around her to close the TARDIS doors. "Maybe you've been right this whole time. It's best to see reality." If he had seen reality before, way back on Gallifrey, then maybe he would've avoided all the pain he'd carried since then.
"Don't say that, please," Renata whispered. She felt terrible thinking that her words had finally cut through the Doctor. That's never what she wanted to do. "Because the day you start thinking like me...then it's really over."
That's how badly she thinks of herself, the Doctor concluded. He wasn't that surprised, though. Zuriah usually wasn't very confident, even when she had the ability to make anyone smile. She was always so good at making everyone - anyone - feel welcomed, feel at home and Renata was just as good. As soon as she was finally settled in her new traveling life with him, she made him feel at home in his own TARDIS. She was a warm, kind woman…
He forgot how he used to feel around her.
"Doctor, it's Zuriah. She's here. She's alive and she's here. The universe is giving you a second chance to be happy."
"She has a point," Donna's input made the Doctor turn his head at her. "You've told me how much it hurt to leave her behind, especially when...when your war was over. But she's alive."
She was alive and yet he was still so scared of what would happen. He still felt the anger towards Renata even when he knew - when he accepted - that he was still in love with her, but maybe this is what Martha meant. There wasn't time to waste but it was difficult to move on right now. Maybe it was just 'right now'. He'd have to come back to that when all this mess was over...
"I know you must not value my words right now - or ever again - but I have to tell you how much you've...changed me." Renata stepped closer to him but was a bit afraid that he wouldn't want to be in such close proximity to her. "I never really got the jist of planet Earth and much less the humans...but you've changed that this past year. I finally get why you're always there to help them. They're amazing - albeit a little narcissistic sometimes - but they're people worth getting to know. And I thank you for that. Now I just want to help however I can and make that girl over there-" she nodded over to Gabby who was blankly staring at the ground, "-happy again. So, yes, my energy might not do a damn thing but I will keep trying even if it kills me."
It was impossible for the Doctor not to feel at least a little bit special. Time was, he always tries to show Zuriah the best of the world through his words. She would always question his obsession with the humans, commenting on how he should redirect that attention to their home instead. But here she was, thinking almost like him.
There came a beeping noise from the console, startling the trio inside. It was hard to tell what it was for a few seconds, until…
"PHONE!" Gabby actually fell out of the Captain's chair in her shock. The Doctor dashed for the console with Renata hot on his trail.
"That's Martha's phone! It's Martha's!" Renata was too excited when she saw the Doctor picking up the ringing phone.
"Martha, is that you?!" the Doctor called but there was nothing on the other end. He pulled the phone from his ear to see the screen. "It's a signal…"
"Can we follow it?" Gabby jumped back to her feet, albeit a little wobbly from her fall. "Like back to Earth?"
The Doctor had a stethoscope on the phone and the phone in front of the monitor, with no intention of letting the trace go. "Oh just watch me!" Renata beamed at him. He couldn't just give up - it wasn't him. "Got it! Locking on!" he cheered. He didn't warn the other two that the TARDIS was about to once again shake them - he just pulled the lever and started her up.
Renata shrieked at the sparks that flew from the console and nearly hit her face. Her arms flew over her face and in doing so, the TARDIS had an easier time throwing her back.
"Renata!" Gabby yelped from her spot.
"I'm fine, just keep going!"
But a moment later, the console went up in flames and forced Gabby to let go. She shrieked as well when she went down.
"Sorry! We're travelling through time! One second in the future!" the Doctor explained in a loud shout. "The phone call's pulling us through!"
"Just get us there!" Renata, again, yelled from the floor.
"THREE! TWO! ONE!" The Doctor yelled at the top of his lungs whilst the TARDIS shook like it never had before.
The TARDIS hurtled towards something new, exactly to where Earth and the other lost planets truly were. The fire, soon, started going out on its own.
Renata eventually climbed her way back up using the dry parts of the console for support. Her back ached and that warmth was coming back to her skin. "Please tell me we're here?"
The Doctor's grin was answer enough. He helped Gabby stand up while Renata hurriedly moved to the computer.
"The twenty-seven planets!" she beamed. "And there's the Earth, Gabby, very much present!"
"Let me see!" Gabby left the Doctor's hold to see for herself that the planets were all there. "But why couldn't we see it before?"
"The entire Medusa Cascade has been put a second out of sync with the rest of the universe. Perfect hiding place, tiny little pocket of time. But we found them!" The Doctor had come to the monitor in time to see the screen blurring. "Oh, oh... what's that?"
"Someone's trying to reach us," Renata really hoped it was Martha and Donna. She needed to know they were okay.
"Some sort of... subwave network!" The Doctor anxiously waited for the screen to completely clear up. He did his best from his end to help the network come through, but it was mostly up to their luck.
Jack Harkness was the first to appear in a square of four, followed by Sarah Jane Smith, Martha Jones and then their own square.
"Martha!" Renata beamed at the sight of her best friend. Martha grinned in relief to see their network had finally reached them.
Jack Harkness laughed in the same relief but it was followed by an angry, "Where the hell have you been!?" It made the trio blink in collective surprise.
"Well, rude," Renata muttered but she couldn't stop smiling. They were alive right now and that's all she cared for. "Wait - who's that?" She pointed a finger at Sarah Jane.
"Oh, Sarah Jane!" The Doctor was the next to beam. "An old friend! Who's the boy?" He spotted the brunette teenager standing next to Sarah Jane.
"Is Donna around there?" Gabby squirmed her way in-between the Doctor and Renata, momentarily looking like their curious child trying to see what was going on.
"Donna!" Renata gasped. Her eyes laid on Martha but it was only her.
"She's at home, I'm assuming safe? All communication is down."
The trio's hearts stopped at the questionable fate of Donna.
"You picked up another one?" Jack raised an eyebrow at Gabby.
"She's mine," Renata answered with a proud smile, truly looking the part of a mother.
"I'm Gabby Gonzalez," Gabby gave a meek wave of her hand at the screen. "And I'm not a child, no matter how Renata makes it seem."
"Doctor, it's the Daleks!" Jack exclaimed.
"They're taking people to their spaceship!" Sarah Jane added and was followed by Martha's input.
"But it's not just Dalek Caan!"
~ 0 ~
In Donna's living room, there was an equal relief to see the Doctor and Renata on their computer screen, although Rose paid more attention to the former than the latter.
"They're alive," Donna was grinning from ear to ear. "And that means we can still win this!"
"Win what? The world's ending," Sylvia said from behind.
"Mum, not now!" Donna sighed as she watched everyone jabber along on the computer. They were unable to join.
"So you do have the cosmic butterfly and the Time Lady?" Rose didn't seem too sure about them when she glanced at Donna.
"They're incredibly kind women, I swear," Donna assured her.
"She-" Rose tapped her finger over Renata, "-didn't care for humanity in your world. She was in hiding...and she knew the Doctor, but...she didn't care that he was dead."
"To be fair, that's also a version of Renata that never met the Doctor again so...she never got attached to any human like Martha...me...and Gabby," Donna said sadly. She wondered what that other version of Renata felt like being alone. She remembered how scary the Doctor had been the first time she met him. He had no control of himself, no care for his own life because he felt so utterly alone. She presumed the other Renata had to been similar.
"And she-" Rose moved her finger to Gabby, "-can be very dangerous. She was a fixed point in time in a lot of the other worlds. She was dangerous, Donna, I swear."
"I believe you," Donna promised. Rose looked very sincere in her worries and Donna couldn't just wash them away when Rose had seen things with her own eyes. "But please trust me when I tell you that these versions are not who you think they are. They're here to help."
Rose bit her lower lip and turned her gaze back to the computer. All this time she hadn't felt her stomach churn the way it was right now - despite the Dalek situation and the universes crashing - but now looking at Renata and Gabby made things feel a lot worse. It scared her even more.
~ 0 ~
The Doctor was fondly watching all of his previous companions jabber over one another, trying to explain the situation. He had no idea what they were saying but he didn't care. He was so happy to see all of them. "Look at you all, you clever people!"
"These are all previous companions?" Gabby asked him with a growing smile on her face. People just like her who would understand all of her stories!?
"Yeah," the Doctor nodded. "That's Captain Jack-" and just before the man in question was about to open his mouth, the Doctor pointed a warning finger at him, "Don't you dare!" Gabby blinked but smiled at the brunette man on the screen. He was kind of cute. "That's Sarah Jane - we go way back."
"Centuries," Sarah Jane agreed. "Now I must ask who is that?" She was talking about Renata who'd been pretty quiet but nonetheless looking just as happy as everyone else.
"Renata," the woman answered. "Nice to meet you...even though I wish it was under better circumstances."
"This is like an outer-space Facebook!" Gabby laughed once she realized the comparison. "Can we make this a daily thing? You know, when the world isn't ending."
"Oh Gabby," Renata laughed and side hugged her.
"Everyone except Rose," the Doctor distantly commented after a moment.
~ 0 ~
"I'm here, Doctor. I'm here," Rose whispered with an urgency that Donna could practically see radiating from her.
~ 0 ~
The screen in the TARDIS turned into white noise all of a sudden.
"No, no get them back!" Gabby frantically said, even banging the side of the monitor to get ahead of the Doctor.
"There's another signal coming through, there's someone else out there!" The Doctor did indeed follow Gabby's plan and banged the other side of the monitor.
"Would you two stop banging the monitor!?" Renata yanked their two hands off the poor screen. "Maybe it's Donna."
But the voice that followed was definitely not Donna. It was a raspy, almost ugly, voice that froze the two Time Lords in their places. "Your voice is different, and yet, its arrogance is unchanged."
Gabby wasn't sure who it was but judging by the looks on the pair's faces, she knew it could not be good.
"No, but he's dead…" Sarah Jane was the only companion who seemed to share the Time Lord's horror.
"Welcome to my new empire, Doctor," Davros - creator of the Daleks - emerged from the darkness to reveal a rather unappealing appearance.
"Ugh…" Gabby found herself retracting a few steps, repulsed at the terrible creature on the screen.
"I've never actually seen him…" Renata sucked in a breath of terror. Flashes of the war came back to her mind suddenly.
"It is only fitting that you should bear witness to the resurrection and the triumph of Davros, Lord and Creator of the Dalek Race," Davros said, but the Doctor only stared in silence. "Have you nothing to say?"
Gabby took the Doctor's silence as a very good reason to be afraid. "We're-we're in the TARDIS. We're...we're supposed to be safe, right?"
"But you were destroyed," the Doctor finally found some words to say. "In the very first year of the Time War, at the Gates of Elysiem. I saw your command ship flying into the jaws of the Nightmare Child. I tried to save you…"
Renata's double-take on him nearly hurt her neck from how fast she'd done it. "You did what?" Never in her lives would she ever try to save someone like Davros...but of course the Doctor would.
"It took one stronger than you," Davros told him. "Dalek Caan himself."
The Dalek himself flashed in the background, singing his words with an insane undertone. "I flew into the wild and fire. I danced and died a thousand times!"
"Emergency temporal shift took him back into the Time War itself," Davros further explained, or explained better since the other Dalek was deliriously laughing.
"But the entire War is time locked!" Renata, outraged, yelled. How could a creature like that be able to penetrate the most sealed event in history?
"And yet, he succeeded. Oh, it cost him his mind, but imagine - a single, simple Dalek succeeded where Emperors and Time Lords have failed. A testament, don't you think, to my remarkable creations?"
"And you made a new race of Daleks," the Doctor could only assume.
"I gave myself to them. Quite literally. Each one grown from a cell of my own body." Davros revealed his rotten form underneath his suit. His ribs and heart were almost entirely visible. "New Daleks. True Daleks. I have my children, Doctor. What do you have, now?"
The Doctor was still pretty shaken from the fact that Davros was there so Renata felt like it was appropriate to answer for him. "I am Renata and you ruined our world! So the only thing we're going to do is say goodbye you horrible, ugly monster!" She reached for the lever across and yanked it down with all her might, sending both the Doctor and Gabby to the floor.
The TARDIS began its descent towards Earth, never the smooth ride.
Author's Note:
Ah, so it's all coming now. Donna still went through the paralell world but now she's back on Earth helping Rose out where she can. And Rose started foreshadowing what could/might happen to Renata...or Gabby...or Renata...
And guys...they finally went to the Shadow Proclamation! But poor Renata, in her nightie, and it all blew up in her face. They were NOT helpful at all and the Doctor finally got to show it. This moment will come up later on too xD.
Can you guys believe that there's only like 6 chapters left in this story (if I don't decide to split up a few chapters). I'm so excited for the next story that I thought I'd leave behind another snippet of it. Actually, this is quite literally the beginning of the next story if anyone's curious!
"You left me dangling out there!" the Doctor exclaimed, flapping a hand at the open doors. The TARDIS had lurched to the side, throwing him out like a ragdoll.
Renata's eyes widened indignantly. She huffed and stepped away - or stumbled away because of the bouncy ride - from the console. "I did not! I'm trying to fix your mess! You can't even regenerate properly!"
Now it was the Doctor's turn to be offended. "What!? Excuse me for not dying the right way!"
Renata stalked over to him, intending on pulling him away from the doors that he irresponsibly left open as well. "The TARDIS needs to land so it can properly repair itself but I can't do that because - oh no!" She had gasped at something past him, out the door.
As you can see, their bickering will definitely be moving on with them into the next story. God help them **salutes.
P. S: As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "noble-crescent" and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.
For the Reviews:
savethemadscientist: You have no idea how much I've been dying to show those flashbacks. Not a huge fan of the Assessor either, trust me. Nope, Donna's spending her time on Earth for now! As we see, the Doctor's very indecisive right now and I think it's pretty understandable. On the one hand, Renata lied to him for such a long time but on the other hand, she's Renata: the woman he loves. Yeeesss cliffhangers might be my favorite things around here ;). And we have a little snippet of how Rose feels towards Renata right now, but who knows what's gonna happen when they finally meet. And thank you so much!
HannahHPandDWfanJones: Thank youu! And yes, I think 'poor, poor Time Lords' is exactly how I would describe these 2 right now. I'll just say that the way Renata & Rose deal with each other is quite different than the way I know a few people are expecting it to go. Remember that Renata doesn't really know how to 'fight'. Haha, like I said, I love cliffhangers! Move aside Moffat! ;)
lautaro94: Well I don't watch classic who but I know for sure that the Assessor would be self combusting at that point. You can headcanon that she regenerated solely out of fury xd.
titieli: Thank you soo much! Don't worry, I'm glad that it was subtly foreseeable! I think the Master would've dragged it out because that's just he rolls. It'd be a like a game to him but the Assessor is far different. She's stone cold for the sake of 'rules and laws'. Take her as a version of Renata but without Renata's emotions. Well when Renata met the Doctor for the first time, he was already out of the Academy but that name will come up eventually, promise! And as we saw, Donna was in the parallel world but off screen. Everything that happened in the show happened again (i just honestly hate rewriting episodes that don't really include the OC). I'm just gonna be honest, I've never liked River. I agree with her arc being rushed but to me it also felt so forced, you know? I try to change things for her in my stories - like with my oc Avalon and then Minerva - to make her more into a person and less of a 'love interest'. I basically try to flesh her out xD. Oh I love coffee with rum. We have one that's coffee-flavored already so it's even mORE tasty! I can say that it's definitely Gabby's favorite thing to drink too. It'll probably take just a bit longer to update since I have to go back and edit things each time but hopefully it'll be done soon. Like I said, I'm just excited for the next story. Seriously, thanks!
afionna262: It's a rollercoaster for them right now so stick around xD.
Isabelnecessaryonabicycle: Okay so we see that Donna's alright right now. Whether or not that'll change, you'll have to wait and see :).
lexicaruso: Like I said above, they're like on a rollercoaster right now because things are just so complicated. And it's because both sides are right that it's so complicated. Renata did what she thought was right and of course the Doctor would've done the same if roles were reversed. If Renata was in the Doctor's place, she knows that she would've been just as mad as he was. It's terrible .. Yup, 6 more chapters to go! My dear 11 is a-coming, along with River .. Yess you'll have to wait and see whether or not their relationship progressed ;). Thanks so much, I'm glad I've helped out a bit. Times are really tough right now, I know.
DarkSideofParis: That's fine lol thank you! It was an interesting day because of quarantine and work but all good too! Yeah I know, the Assessor was an outright bitch and poor Renata had no idea. It's funny that you mention that because in the future, Renata will have a little goodbye with all that. I don't think I've ever mentioned it but just to clarify, nope, the Assessor was still alive during that moment. It'll be addressed later on, you'll have a little " :o " moment when you get to it! Hmm, I haven't thought that far ahead because I'm still finishing up writing season 5 but I do have one or two ideas about it. But for sure, sure the Doctor would absolutely hate her. Once again, thank you!