Author's note: So, this is it. John initiates his unusual solution and attempts to save a long-dead civilisation. Rose waits for a call from Donna, but Donna-The-House convinces her to call instead.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by to read this story.

Chapter 29

New Hope For The Future

'So, how have you been spending your time here at the Shadow Proclamation?' Rose asked Zoriel, as John scanned his DNA in the TARDIS Medi-bay.

'We have lessons for part of the day, and then we have free time to play and watch programs on the video screens,' Zoriel replied.

'Sounds like a normal childhood to me,' John said with a smile. He looked at the results of the DNA scan. 'Ah ha! Just as I thought. That's all the scans done now, and all of your brothers and sisters are actually your cousins.'

'So they're not actually related?' Rose asked.

'Only by species. It was like my second childhood on Gallifrey. We were all loom cousins,' John told her.

'So they could form relationships with each other,' Rose realised.

'If they wanted to,' John agreed.

'We could have families?' Zoriel asked. 'Like you and Rose?'

'That's right. And when you feel ready, there are fifty-two babies waiting to be adopted,' John said. Two of the pregnancies in Dunwich had been naturally conceived, and two women had decided to keep theirs, which brought the total number of alien babies to fifty-two.

'But we won't be able to look after children for years,' Zoriel protested. 'We are just children ourselves.'

John waggled his eyebrows at Rose. 'You leave that to us . . . As Baldrick would say, "I have a cunning plan".'

'Ah. Blackadder,' Zoriel said with a smile. 'We have watched that.'

'This is more like an unusual solution,' said Rose.

'Well, we're done here. Off you go. We'll see you later,' John said. 'I have to go and have a chat with the Shadow Architect.'

Zoriel went to find his cousins, whilst John and Rose went to the Reception Chamber.

'Madam Architect. Any progress on repatriating the children to their homeworld?' John asked her. He had used Alice's profiling technique on the Mother Ship's log and traced the ship back to its point of origin.

'Ah, John. Yes, there are a number of agencies who are willing to assist us in fostering the children as they grow up. How are you progressing with their tutor?' the Shadow Architect replied.

'What, Badger? He'll be ready to teach by the time we've got everything in place,' he told her.

John had explained to the Shadow Architect about his childhood on Gallifrey, and how the children were tutored by robotic mentors called avatroids. His own tutor had been given to him by Ordinal-General Quences, and was a bear-sized badger with crystal eyes, and horns that curled from either flank of its head, big enough to hang a coat from. It had serrated black stripes on a creamy pelt, which covered its mechanical body. With the exception of cousin Innocet, the Doctor had preferred the company of his tutor over that of his cousins.

'I still don't see how an avatroid in the form of a tusked badger will help them learn any more effectively than a humanoid avatroid,' the Architect said.

'Wellll, it probably won't,' John confessed as he scratched the back of his neck. 'But it will be more fun for them . . . And a bit of nostalgia never hurts.'

'Badger was John's teacher on Gallifrey when he was a child,' Rose explained. 'And he turned out all right, didn't he?'

'Hmmm,' the Architect said, noncommittally, causing Rose to snort a laugh.

John gave his wife an indignant look. 'What?' She shook her head, unable to speak due to a fit of the giggles.

John rolled his eyes and looked back at the Shadow Architect, who had a wry smile on her lips. 'I think I am uniquely placed to help the children, having had a similar experience. The children have a lot of similarities with the children of Gallifrey. They have no parents, due to infertility. They are cousins, not siblings. And they need a multidisciplinary mentor with encyclopedic knowledge, who is versed in both the arts and sciences.'

'And what of the unborn children on the ship?' the Architect asked.

'Ah. That; is my most unusual solution,' John said with an enigmatic smile.

A planet called "New Hope".

13 years after the Dunwich incident.

The TARDIS materialised in a leafy, sunlit square, in the middle of a futuristic city of glass and metal skyscrapers, spires and high-level walkways. The right-hand door opened inwards, watched by sixty-two, silver-haired, golden-eyed, men and women.

'John. Rose. It's good to see you again,' the twenty-five-year-old Zoriel said, shaking hands with them. 'And not a day older by the look of you.'

Rose laughed. 'Well. Actually, we are just one day older from when we last saw you.'

Zoriel laughed and shook his head. 'Incredible. You really are a tough act to follow.'

'Hey. Don't follow us, you have your own path to follow. And it looks like you've taken those first steps,' John said, looking at the young woman Zoriel had his arm around.

'Oh. Of course, you remember Maltar?'

'How could I forget,' John said with a cheeky smile. 'It was only yesterday.' He leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. 'Hello, Maltar.'

'Hello, John. Rose,' Maltar said with a warm smile.

Rose held her arms out for her, and she accepted the embrace. 'Good to see you Maltar.'

'How's the Senate, Mister President?' John asked him, looking past his shoulder at the assembled group.

'As you know, we are all of one mind, John. It makes the title of president a little redundant. But we are all fine, and eagerly await the arrival of the next generation,' Zoriel replied.

'So the pact you made as twelve-year-old children still stands?' John asked, just to make sure they knew what they were taking on.

'As I said, we are of one mind. Not only do we know our responsibilities to our descendants, but we also want children to love and nurture, as our foster parents have loved and nurtured us.

'Well, we'd best not keep them waiting any longer then, had we?' John said, and he and Rose went back to the TARDIS where child care assistants from Torchwood were looking after the incubated babies. They brought out two blanket-wrapped bundles in their arms.

'Are those our children?' Maltar asked with a look of delight.

'They are indeed,' John said with a smile. 'We picked them out of the cots at random, so we don't know if you've got boys or girls.'

Zoriel and Maltar accepted the babies from them and looked lovingly at them. 'We don't care,' Maltar said. 'They are ours. That's all that matters.'

'Quite right too,' John said. 'Oh, and you'll need these if you want them to feed naturally.' He handed Maltar a box of tablets.

'What are they?' she asked him.

'Your version of prolactin. They'll stimulate milk production,' John explained.

'Oh, that is wonderful. Thank you.'

'We'll bring them out in twos,' Rose called out to the crowd. 'So if you want to come forward . . .'

For the next thirty minutes, John and Rose handed over the fifty-two Dunwich babies, and ten babies taken from one of the earlier cases they'd visited in their lunch hour. Once the last couple had received their fraternal twins, and their tablets, the crowd started to disperse to take their babies home.

'We should get our babies home also, Zoriel,' Maltar said.

'Yes, of course.' He turned to John and Rose. 'Would you allow us to show you some New Hope hospitality in our home?'

Rose linked her arm through John's. 'We would be delighted. Thank you.'

They walked the short distance down the street to their apartment building. There were plenty of empty apartments in the city, and the young residents had chosen to live in the same one which was close to city hall.

'This is a lovely apartment,' Rose said as Maltar cuddled her babies, and Zoriel made the beverages.

'Thank you,' Maltar replied. 'We like it.'

'And where are your foster parents?' John asked. 'Are they still around?'

'Yes,' Zoriel called from the kitchen. 'When we reached sixteen, we told them that they didn't need to stay if they didn't want to. We have droids which see to the needs of our small society. But they love us, and we love them, and they stayed.'

'They live in the suburbs,' Maltar told them. 'They are coming over for dinner. I think they are eager to see their grandchildren.'

'Some of the foster parents had other commitments and were unable to stay. But they return regularly and stay for vacations,' Zoriel explained as he brought in the tray of drinks. 'And what of the future, John?'

'Ah, yes. Well, as you know, we are visiting all the worlds that the mother ship visited and applying the nanogenes to the implanted embryos. We are then removing any that the women do not want to carry,' John recapped.

'Ah yes. That was mentioned when we made the pact,' Maltar said.

'Now, we will return at regular intervals in your future and offer more babies for adoption,' John continued.

'Are you still okay with that?' Rose asked. For her and John it would only be minutes, as they had more rescued babies in the TARDIS.

Zoriel smiled. 'We are more than okay with that. Having a shared mind, we help each other. Also, we have nanny droid which can help us with the childcare.'

'Okay then. We've also installed incubators on the Final Option, and programmed the medical droids to use them,' John told them, 'The incubators have the nanogenes installed inside them, so the resulting babies will be harmless.'

'Yeah. Once you've got all the babies from the other planets, every year, the droids will fly one of the ships down and present more babies for adoption,' Rose explained, as she accepted a cup.

'So the planet will slowly be populated a generation at a time,' Zoriel said, handing a drink to John.

John nodded. 'That's right. You will have to decide how many babies you can handle at a time and alter the programming accordingly . . . Oh. And there's one more little surprise for you.'

'A surprise?' Maltar asked.

'Yeah,' Rose said excitedly. 'Our geneticists at Torchwood found the fault in your genome which was preventing you from becoming pregnant. John has programmed the nanogenes to repair the DNA of all the embryos.'

'So our children will be able to have children,' Maltar asked.

John gave them a big grin. 'Yep! A hundred million cousins, all able to have their own families. And in twenty years time, there will be another generation of adults able to adopt. A year later, another, and so on. The ship will empty at an exponential rate.'

'And we can fulfil our moral obligation,' Zoriel told him.

'Ah, social ethics. Badger has taught you well,' John said. 'How is my old friend?'

'Still teaching,' Zoriel said as he sat with his partner and took one of the babies. 'He's teaching at the university now. I'm studying astrophysics under him.'

'We have a daughter,' Maltar announced, as she unfastened the nappy. It was still dry, so she fastened it up again.

'Oh, congratulations,' Rose said, beaming a smile.

'And the other one?' John asked.

Zoriel unfastened the nappy and pulled a face. 'Oof. It's a boy. And he's filled his nappy. You'll have to excuse me while I change him.'

Rose held her arms out. 'Can I give you a hand? I'll hold him while you get the stuff together.'

Zoriel smiled. 'Thank you, Rose. I'll get the changing mat and the box.'

So Zoriel and Rose got down on the floor on their hands and knees, and Rose gave a quick tutorial on how to change a nappy. Zoriel politely accepted her tutorage with good humour, because their foster parents and Badger had already given them lessons on the practicalities of childcare.

'Right. We'll be off then,' John said as they finished their drinks. 'We'll see you in a couple of minutes . . .'

'And you'll see us in a coupla years,' Rose finished.

Back in the TARDIS, they set the temporal coordinates for two years time and started the Time Rotor.

'You lot alright?' John asked the childcare assistants, with a cheeky smile.

'Er, yes. We think so, only this place is a bit freaky when you first come in here,' one of the young women said. 'But I think we're getting used to it.'

'Good. Just a few more deliveries, and then we'll head for home,' he said as he shut down the Time Rotor.

'So where are we now?' another assistant asked.

'Oh, same place,' John said as though it should have been obvious. 'Just a different time.'

Rose laughed at the "dribbled down her white uniform" expression and rubbed her arm. 'Try not to think about it and you'll be fine.'

Hand in hand, John and Rose went down the ramp to the doors and opened them inwards. The scene that greeted them made them laugh with delight. Not only were there sixty-two adults waiting for them as before, but there were sixty-two toddlers either running around, asleep in pushchairs or playing on the fairground amusements which had been assembled in the square. There was a carnival atmosphere, with the shouts, squeals of delight, and peals of children's laughter.

'Hah! Look at you lot,' John said with a beaming smile.

'John. Rose,' Zoriel called to them. 'Good to see you again. Isn't it great to hear the laughter of children in a place that was once silent?'

'Oh yes!' he agreed. 'That and the TARDIS . . . Best sounds in the universe.'

The Smith's Residence.

Northumberland Place.

Notting Hill, London.

'You alright Love?' John asked as he saw Rose look at her phone. They were sitting on the sofa, watching TV, and Rose had her legs resting on John's lap.

'Yeah. I was just wonderin' if Donna was ever gonna phone to arrange that dinner date at theirs.'

['She's probably too embarrassed,'] Donna-the-House said.

'But I told her that was all a big misunderstanding and that we'd forgotten it,' Rose explained.

['Yeah. But she's still embarrassed about it. If I were you, I'd phone her,'] Donna suggested.

'I can't invite ourselves to dinner. That would be . . . presumptuous and rude,' Rose told her haughtily.

['Well, if you can't do that, then you need to take some advice from the poet, James Joyce. He said if you really want to get to know someone, you need to get drunk with them.']

'Really?' Rose asked.

['No. I just made it up.'] John snorted a laugh. ['But it's good advice . . . You should invite her to your girls night in tomorrow,'] Donna advised.

'Oh, Donna. That's brilliant.'

['Of course it is. Whatcha expect?']

Rose selected Donna's number and pressed dial. She heard the burring sound as it called Donna's phone.

['Hello. Is that you Rose?']

'Hi, Donna. Yeah, it's me. Look, I was just wonderin' if you'd like to meet the girls from the Watch tomorrow night? We have this regular girls night in over at Gwen's.'

['Wha'? And you want me to come?']

'Yeah. They all know about you and would love to meet you.'

['Well, I don't know.']

'Oh please say you'll come. It's a really good laugh, and we all get a bit tipsy.'

['Drunk yer mean,'] Donna-the-House chipped in, which made John snort another laugh.

['If you're sure . . .']

'I'm sure. Just bring a bottle and a DVD. I'll pick you up at seven.'

['When you say "pick me up", do you mean that mad box kinda pick me up?']

Rose laughed. 'Yeah. Is that okay?'

She could literally see Donna grinning over the phone. ['Yer on. See yer at seven.']

Craven Hill Gardens.

Outside Gwen O'Toole's Apartment Building.

Bayswater, London.

Vrwoorp . . . Vrwoorp . . . Vrwiirp . . . Vrwiirp . . .

The TARDIS materialised in the small park opposite Gwen's apartment in Craven Hill Gardens. On one side of the park, was a block of modern brown brick and concrete apartments, and on the other, where the TARDIS was facing, was a row of white, Edwardian townhouses. Gwen's apartment was on the top floor of this beautiful Edwardian building. Rose and Donna stepped out of the TARDIS, and Donna looked around the dimly lit park.

'Ooh. This is nice,' Donna said.

'Yeah. It's lovely havin' this park in front of her apartment,' Rose replied.

'An' useful for parkin',' Donna said with a cheeky grin.

Rose laughed. 'Yer right there. C'mon, it's this way.'

Rose closed the TARDIS door and led the way along the little path to an arched gateway which opened onto the road. They trotted across the road to the pavement opposite, where there were black railings to contrast the white building. The entrance to the apartments was an arched door which was framed by two Doric columns and topped with a balcony containing a potted tree.

They let themselves in and made their way up the stairs to Gwen's apartment, which was along the hallway and around the corner.

"Ding-dong". Rose pressed the doorbell, and they waited for the door to open. Donna looked nervously around the tastefully decorated hallway. The door opened, and the attractive, redheaded Gwen O'Toole stood in the doorway in a baggy T-shirt, denim jeans and bare feet.

'Hi, Gwen. We're here,' Rose said with a "ta-da" of her arms. 'This is my friend Donna I told you about.'

'Oh yeah. And a redhead, great. Hi Donna, come in and make yourself at home. Us redheads have got to stick together, eh Donna?' Gwen said, ushering them both inside.

'Oh-my-god. It's Numbers O'Toole from the show,' Donna whispered to Rose, as they walked down the short hallway.

Rose beamed a smile at her. 'Yeah. I know . . . Hi everyone. This is Donna,' Rose called out as they walked into the living room.

'Oh, hi Donna.' 'Hello.' 'Ah, at last, we get to meet you,' the girls said in greeting.

'Oh-my-God . . . You're "Van",' Donna said to Julia. 'And "Legs". I love the way you keep "Other Craig" in his place by the way.'

'Hello, Donna. We met at Dunwich. I'm Alice,' Alice said, giving her a hug.

'Oh yeah. You're the psychologist,' Donna replied. 'And you're Chrissie, right?'

'That's right. Technical Support Specialist,' Chrissie Anderson told her.

'And you're Jake's other 'alf, aren't ya?' she asked Sarah.

'That's right. Sarah. Nice to meet you, Donna.'

'And Angel,' Donna said, wide-eyed and open-mouthed.

'That's correct. Pleased to meet you, Donna,' Angel said, giving her a hug.

'I don't believe this. I'm gettin' a hug off a real, live, alien. Oh, no offence,' Donna said.

Angel gave a bubbly laugh. 'None taken. I am an alien.'

'Yeah. I can see yer ears,' Donna said with a little laugh. 'But what about the . . . y'know.' She made a small flapping motion with her hands.

'Oh, these,' Angel said, as she looked over both shoulders to make sure she wasn't going to knock anything over, before giving a flap of her wings.

Donna put her hands to her mouth and squealed a laugh. 'They're real. They're really real. My husband thought they were CGI for the show.'

Everyone laughed at that comment, and they started sorting out the drinks and snacks. Donna noticed that Amy had selected a Vitex soft drink. Rose saw her questioning look.

'Oh yeah. It won't be aired for a couple of months,' Rose said. 'Amy's pregnant.'

Donna's mouth fell open. 'No way . . . Oh, congratulations.'

'Thank you,' Amy replied.

'It is congratulations, innit?' Donna asked hesitantly. 'It's not one of them alien babies, is it? Cos Jack Harkness said you'd fallen asleep inside Dunwich.'

Amy gave a little laugh. 'No. I had a full check up in the Torchwood Hospital. It's mine and Rory's.'

'Brilliant!' Donna said with a beaming smile.

'Er, I'll have a Vitex as well,' Angel said from behind them.

The room fell silent, and everyone turned to look at her. She had an impish smile on her face.

'Angel! You're not?' Alice asked in wonder.

Angel nodded. 'We did the test when I came off shift this afternoon. I'm pregnant.'

There were squeals of delight, laughter, and tears of joy for their friend.

'Oh did I pick a good time to invite you,' Rose told Donna. 'This is gonna be one hell of a night.'

Donna looked at her with an excited sparkle in her eyes. 'An' can I just say . . . bein' here tonight, an' you an' John wantin' to be my friend just cos I look like someone you knew . . . It's brilliant.'

'But it's not just that you look like her Donna,' Rose started to explain. 'Oh, how can I explain it? I wish I could show you what you were like.'

Amy had overheard the conversation and put her hands up in the Vulcan salute she'd seen Mister Spock do. 'Why don't you do that mind meld thing you do with John?'

'What?' Rose said with a frown, and then thought about it. 'But me an' John are telepathic. I don't think it works on non-telepaths.'

['Course it does,'] John said in her head. He'd picked up the doubt in her mind. ['I did it with Reinette, remember? You just have to be careful.']

['But I've never done anythin' like that before,'] Rose reminded him.

['You do it all the time with the kids without even realising it. And I'll be here to help you. And it will finally explain to Donna why we think she's so special.']

['Okay. If you think it'll work, I'll give it a go.'] Rose faced Donna. 'Donna. Would you like me to show you the "other you" that we know and love?'

'Y'mean you've got a video of her an' you didn't show it to me?' Donna asked, thinking that all the problems could have been avoided if they'd shown it to her first.

'Er, well. It's a sort of video, but you have to see it in yer head,' Rose explained, chewing her bottom lip.

'Why doesn't that surprise me?' Donna said with a lopsided smile. 'I mean, you've got a box with a house stuffed inside it . . . Go on then, I might as well go the full hog . . . It is safe, yeah?'

Everyone in the flat was now taking an interest in the conversation. 'John and Rose do it all the time,' Julia told her.

'What do I do?' Donna asked.

'Have a seat and relax,' Rose said and sat with her on the sofa. She put two fingers on each temple and reached out with her mind, just as she did with John and the children. 'Now. You should be able to sense that I'm there; as though I'm standing outside the door, waiting to be let in.'

Donna's mouth fell open. 'Oh-my-God. It's you!'

Rose laughed. 'Yep. That's me. Now, if you open the door, I'm not goin' to come in, I'm going to ask you to look through the door.'

'Hah! I can see a big cinema screen,' Donna said with a laugh.

['Okay. Here comes the main feature,'] John said in their heads.

'John? Was that you?' Donna asked out loud.

She felt him roll his eyes. ['Who else is it going to be. Now I hope you've got your Vitex and your popcorn, cos here it comes.']

John and Rose started to show her all their memories of Donna Noble, saviour of the multiverse.

'Aaagh! I hate spiders!' Donna exclaimed as she saw the Racnoss Queen.

['It's alright Donna. Relax. It's just a memory. It's not real,'] John reassured her.

'Why am I wavin' at floatin' fat?' Donna asked with a frown.

'Yeugh!' Amy exclaimed as she imagined where you would normally see floating fat.

Donna Templeton saw all of Donna Noble's travels with the Doctor; felt all the emotions of joy, sadness and terror. Met all the aliens Donna Noble had met. She could feel Donna Noble in her head, and it was the same person as herself. It was as if she had experienced all of the adventures herself.

['That should do it,'] John said gently, and Rose took away her fingers.

'You okay?' Rose asked, looking into Donna's eyes with concern.

Donna seemed to suddenly realise where she was and who she was with. 'It's you . . . Rose . . . You jumped across so many universes to get back to him because you couldn't live without him.'

'Yeah. That's me,' Rose said with a big grin.

'Oh come 'ere,' Donna said and pulled Rose into a long hug. She eventually released her from the hug and held her shoulders. 'And John . . . It's like he's my brother.'

She looked up at the members of Blue Watch with a new appreciation. Her insecurities had been banished, and she knew she was as good as them. She was still excited to be there with them, they were celebrities after all. But she was no longer in awe of them; they were equals.

'Come on you lot. Whatcha standin' around for. Let's get this party started.'

The End